Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following college basketball coaches have been named recipients of the Week 5 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible for the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, also presented by Just Play Solutions, which will be announced at the end of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
This season marks the eleventh year of the HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. This week’s winners are listed below, followed by all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The week 5 winners are:
NCAA D1: Chris Victor – Seattle University
With two more wins this past week, Coach Victor has Seattle off to its best start since the 1966-67 campaign. The Redhawks opened the week on the road Wednesday, picking up a 79-78 victory over UC Davis in a back-and-forth battle that saw 12 lead changes and seven ties. Following the win, the Redhawks returned home to take on Washington in the Battle for Seattle on Friday night. Despite trailing by nine in the second half, Seattle was able to pick up a 70-66 win, marking the second consecutive year that the Redhawks defeated the Huskies. This was the first time across the two schools’ 41 all-time matchups that Seattle won two meetings consecutively. Now 10-2 for the first time in 58 years, the Redhawks will look to extend their winning streak to six when they visit UTSA on Monday afternoon.
NCAA D2: Easton Bazzoli – Gannon University
Coach Bazzoli led Gannon to a trio of impressive conference wins this week as his Golden Knights improved to 10-1 (4-0 PSAC) on the season. On Tuesday, No. 15 Gannon forced a program-record 48 turnovers in a 106-48 victory over Kutztown. All 14 players on Gannon’s roster scored in the triumph. Following the record-setting win, the Golden Knights hit the road for a couple of games against PSAC East Division foes. The first of these matchups came against Eastern Division preseason favorite West Chester on Saturday. Gannon, who was the PSAC’s Western Division preseason favorite, utilized a 30-6 run across seven minutes in the second half to blow the game open and eventually come away with a 104-76 victory. Back in action the next day, the Golden Knights pulled down 19 offensive rebounds in a 74-40 win over Millersville. Gannon extended its winning streak to seven games with the victories, and is now idle until after the New Year, when they host Shippensburg on Friday, January 2.
NCAA D3: Eric Bridgeland – University of Redlands
Coach Bridgeland’s squad held strong against a pair of fellow top-25 opponents this week as they moved to 7-1 on the campaign. Redlands, which entered the week ranked No. 11 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, spent the week in Virginia for the Elder, Friedman, and Allen Holiday Classic hosted by Hampden-Sydney. The Bulldogs looked impressive in a 79-60 victory over No. 13 Roanoke in the Classic’s opener on Friday afternoon. Returning to the floor the following day, Redlands used a tip-in with five seconds remaining to take a 91-90 win over No. 16 Hampden-Sydney in a game that featured 20 ties and 27 lead changes. Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip to Las Vegas, where they will take part in the D3hoops.com Classic on December 29 and 30.
NAIA: Scott Moore – Grace College
Coach Moore’s top-ranked Lancers won a pair of games on their Hawaii trip this week to keep their perfect season alive. Playing in Hilo, Grace defeated Midland by a score of 83-66 on Tuesday. All 10 players who entered the game for the Lancers scored. Back in action on Thursday, Grace rebounded from an eight-point halftime deficit to come away with a hard-fought 72-70 victory. The triumph marked the Lancers’ first single-digit win of the season, as their previous closest margin of victory this year was 12 points. Now 13-0 (4-0 Crossroads) on the season, Grace will take on Michigan-Dearborn at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on December 31.
JUCO: Andrew May – Snow College
Coach May’s Badgers made program history this week, going undefeated in non-conference play for the first time ever. Top-ranked Snow spent the later portion of the week in Nevada for the Las Vegas Tarkinian Classic, defeating McCook Community College 96-91 in overtime in their first matchup there on Thursday. Back in action less than 24 hours later, the Badgers outrebounded Gillette College 53-33 in a dominant 88-54 victory. Now 15-0 on the season, Snow will look to keep its perfect record intact when it opens SWAC play against Colorado Northwestern Community College on Saturday, January 3.
2025-26 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Tommy Lloyd – University of Arizona
NCAA DII: Andre Cook – St. Edward’s University
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose – Illinois Wesleyan University
NAIA: Taylor Jarvis – Missouri Baptist University
JUCO: Tae Norwood – Palm Beach State College
NCAA DI: Dusty May – University of Michigan
NCAA DII: Keffrey Fazio – Seattle Pacific University
NCAA DIII: Waleed Farid – New York University
NAIA: Tigh Compton – University of Pikeville
JUCO: Jerry Nichols – Walters State Community College
NCAA DI: Jon Scheyer – Duke University
NCAA DII: Brent Owen – Lenoir-Rhyne University
NCAA DIII: Dean Burrows – Mississippi University for Women
NAIA: Frank Woodford – Benedictine University – Mesa
JUCO: Bryan Bender – Ellsworth Community College
NCAA DI: Frank Martin – University of Massachusetts – Amherst
NCAA DII: Mike MacDonald – Daemen University
NCAA DIII: Anthony Medina – University of St. Thomas (TX)
NAIA: Kevin Williamson – Dakota State University
JUCO: Joey Cantens – Daytona State College
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About Just Play Solutions
Just Play Solutions has become the market leader in coaches’ workflow. A platform to help coaches prepare playbooks, automate scouting reports, research analytics, integrate and distribute video, manage recruiting workflow, and organize recruiting schedules. The end-to-end platform is used by over 700 customers across the country and internationally in football, basketball.
