By AJ Nelson, HoopDirt.com staff writer
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 6 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible to receive the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award presented by Just Play Solutions which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2019-20 college basketball season.
This is the fifth season that HoopDirt.com has run the Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. The previous 2019-20 weekly winners, and a list of all-time COY winners can be found following this weeks honorees.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 6 winners are:
NCAA DI: Steve Forbes – East Tennessee State University
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Coach Forbes’ squad knocked off a power conference opponent on the way to a 2-0 week. On Wednesday, the Buccaneers, traveled to take on LSU, who had received votes in the week’s AP Top-25 poll. ETSU came away with an impressive 74-63 victory – their first win against a Power-5 opponent since Dec. 14, 2016. The Buccaneers followed this win up with a dominant 80-55 defeat of Cleveland State to improve to 11-2 (1-0 SoCon) on the season. Having received a vote in the most recent AP Top-25 Poll, ETSU will look to continue moving up the rankings in a pre-conference play tune-up against Mars Hill on Sunday.
NCAA DII: Damien Blair – West Chester University (PA)
No. 14 West Chester, led by Coach Blair, picked up two more conference victories this week to remain undefeated on the season. The Golden Rams first held on for a hard-fought 82-81 victory over California University of Pennsylvania on Friday before taking on Slippery Rock on Saturday. WCU came away with a 100-82 win to improve to 11-0 (5-0 PSAC) on the season – just one win away from the program record for the best start to a season. The Golden Rams will look to tie the record on January 3rd at home against Shepherd.
NCAA DIII: Anthony Medina – University of St. Thomas (TX)
Coach Medina led St. Thomas to a 3-0 week, including two road victories to begin conference play. The Celts first took a dominant 104-53 victory over Howard Payne on Monday before heading into the conference schedule. They traveled to take on UDallas in the opener, holding off a late run to secure a 79-74 triumph. St. Thomas then defeated Austin College on the road by a score of 80-58 – marking the sixth time in eight games that the Celts have won by 20 or more points. Now 8-0 (2-0 SCAC) on the season, St. Thomas will put their undefeated record on the line when they return home on Sunday to take on Johnson & Wales (CO).
NAIA: Colby Blaine – College of Idaho
Coach Blaine’s No. 5 Coyotes took down another top-5 opponent on the road en route to a 2-0 week. C of I trailed by as many as 12 in the first half at No.2 Oregon Tech, but rallied at the end of the period to take a lead into the break and eventually come away with an impressive 77-65 victory. This win marked the third in program history over a top-2 team. The Coyotes then defeated Southern Oregon 70-49 for their 37th consecutive win when holding opponents under 60 points. They are now 11-3 (4-0 CCC) on the season and will attempt to win their sixth straight game when they take on Corban at home on January 3rd.
JUCO: Terry Bowe – Lakeland Community College (OH)
Having defeated the 2nd ranked team in the country last Sunday, Coach Bowe’s Lakers carried that momentum into this week, taking a hard fought overtime victory for their eighth straight win. Lakeland took down No. 2 Schoolcraft 105-101 on Sunday, handing the Ocelots their first loss of the season. The Lakers then returned home to face off against St. Clair County on Thursday in their final game of 2019. Trailing by five in the overtime period, Lakeland rallied to come away with a 96-92 victory and improve to 10-4 on the season. They are back in action on January 8th at home against Bryant & Stratton.
2019-20 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Walter McCarty – University of Evansville
NCAA DII: Mark Downey – Northeastern State (OK)
NCAA DIII: Josh Merkel – Randolph-Macon College (VA)
NAIA: Kelly Wells – University of Pikeville (KY)
JUCO: Kyle Cooper – Western Texas College
NCAA DI: Tony Bennett – University of Virginia
NCAA DII: Tobin Anderson – St. Thomas Aquinas College (NY)
NCAA DIII: Bosko Djurickovic – Carthage College (WI)
NAIA: Stacy Hollowell – Loyola University (LA)
JUCO: Anthony Fletcher – Eastfield College (TX)
NCAA DI: Juwan Howard – University of Michigan
NCAA DII: Matt Healing – Pace University (NY)
NCAA DIII: Keith Bunkenburg – Benedictine University (IL)
NAIA: Todd Lorensen – Mount Marty College (SD)
JUCO: Cole Dewey – Otero Junior College (CO)
NCAA DI: LaVall Jordan – Butler University
NCAA DII: Mike Donnelly – Florida Southern College
NCAA DIII: Landry Kosmalski – Swarthmore College (NY)
NAIA: Tae Norwood – Keiser University (FL)
JUCO: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College (TX)
NCAA DI: Ritchie McKay – Liberty University
NCAA DII: Tom Klusman – Rollins College (FL)
NCAA DIII: Dave Niland – Penn State-Behrand
NAIA: Aaron Siebenthall – Ottawa University (KS)
JUCO: Brennan McCarthy – Northampton Community College (PA)
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
- 2018-19: Kelvin Sampson – University of Houston
- 2017-18: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
- 2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
- 2015-16: Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
- 2018-19: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State (MI)
- 2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
- 2008-19: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
- 2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
- 2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
- 2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
- 2018-19: Chris Briggs – Georgetown College (KY)
- 2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
- 2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
- 2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
- 2018-19: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College (TX)
- 2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
- 2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
- 2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
USCAA
- 2018-19: LeShawn Hammett – Penn State Wilkes-Barre
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