Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 8 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions. The 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 2018-19 college basketball season.
Nominations for next week’s award can be emailed to: [email protected].
The Week 8 winners are:
NCAA DI: Chris Mullin – St. John’s University
St. John’s added two more big wins this week, improving on what has been a stellar year for Coach Mullin’s squad. The Red Storm first defeated #16 Marquette in dominating fashion, coming away with an 89-69 victory. To follow this up, St. John’s won at Georgetown for the first time since 2003, coming back from a four-point deficit with 28 seconds left before taking a hard-fought 97-94 overtime victory. At 14-1, St. John’s is off to its best start since 1985-86. They will look for another statement win on the road Tuesday, when they take on defending national champion Villanova.
NCAA DII: Scott Davenport – Bellarmine University (KY)
Coach Davenport’s #1 overall Bellarmine squad continued its dominance this week, winning two more road games and remaining undefeated on the season. On Thursday, the Knights defeated Missouri – St. Louis 66-53 before taking an 89-83 overtime victory over Maryville. In that game, Bellarmine fought back from their largest deficit of the season (nine points) to force overtime before pulling away in the extra period. The Knights will look to improve to 13-0 on Thursday at home against Quincy.
NCAA DIII: Matt Siverling – Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Wisconsin – Eau Claire, led by Coach Siverling, opened conference play with two huge road wins this week, including one over a top-10 opponent. The Blugolds first rebounded from an eight-point halftime deficit to come away with a 68-59 victory over UW – River Falls in the conference opener, before facing off against #10 UW – Whitewater. Eau Claire trailed by as many as eight in the second half before rallying for a 69-65 win to move to 2-0 in conference play. The 9-4 (2-0 WIAC) Blugolds are back in action in their home conference opener on Wednesday against UW – La Crosse.
NAIA: R-Jay Barsh – Southeastern University (FL)
Coach Barsh led 8th ranked Southeastern to two down to the wire wins on the road this week, staying unbeaten in conference play and extending their winning streak to five. Trailing by 10 in the second half on Thursday, the Fire came back to force overtime before eventually winning a 98-97 thriller over Thomas University – their first win at Thomas since 2013. Southeastern followed this huge win with another come from behind victory – this time over Coastal Georgia. The Fire shot 12-15 from three in the contest, leading them to an 87-82 win and improving their conference record to a perfect 7-0. Southeastern returns home to take on St. Thomas University on Thursday.
JUCO: Mark Bunker – Scottsdale CC (AZ)
Coach Bunker’s Scottsdale Community College squad defeated the defending DI NJCAA champion en route to a 3-0 week that saw them improve to 13-2 on the season. NJCAA DII Scottsdale took down reigning DI champion and current #1 South Plains 88-86 in overtime on Sunday, handing the Texans their first loss on the season. This set the tone for the rest of the week for Scottsdale, as they proceeded to knock off Fast Break Prep Post Grad 101-70 before defeating Glendale CC 73-64 to finish off their stellar week. The Artichokes will try to extend their winning streak to seven on Wednesday against Tohono O’odham Community College.
USCAA: Don Silveri – Villa Maria College (NY)
USCAA DII #1 Villa Maria defeated two USCAA DI top-10 teams this week, marking their sixth straight win and moving them to 14-1 on the season. Coach Silveri’s Vikings first defeated the 9th ranked Apprentice School 78-73 before using a program record 39 points from DeJaun Owens to beat #7 Stratford 97-95. It was the second time Villa Maria had defeated both of these schools this season. The Vikings next travel to Vermont for a match-up against the College of Saint Joseph on Friday.
[Coach of the Week written and compiled by HoopDirt.com contributor AJ Nelson]
2018-19 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Bob Richey – Furman University
NCAA DII: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State University
NCAA DIII: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
NAIA: Aaron Coombs – Oklahoma Pan Handle State University
JUCO: Anthony Figueroa – Parkland College (IL)
NCAA DI: Greg McDermott – Creighton University
NCAA DII: Stan Gouard – University of Indianapolis
NCAA DIII: Quintin Grogan – Johnson & Wales University Denver
NAIA: Mike Newell – Dillard University (LA)
JUCO: Craig Fletchall – Barton Community (KS)
NCAA DI: Eric Musselman – University of Nevada
NCAA DII: Jeff Price – Lynn University (FL)
NCAA DIII: Jimmy Smith – Millsaps College (MS)
NAIA: Rocky Lamar – MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS)
JUCO: Nkrumah Jones – Bunker Hill Community College (MA)
NCAA DI: Frank Haith – University of Tulsa
NCAA DII: Billy Taylor – Belmont Abbey College (NC)
NCAA DIII: Andrew Weber – Rockford University (IL)
NAIA: Mike McBride – Holy Cross College (IN)
JUCO: Mark White – Tallahassee Community College (FL)
NCAA DI: Rick Barnes – University of Tennessee
NCAA DII: Scott Burrell – Southern Connecticut State University
NCAA DIII: Larry Anderson – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NAIA: Stan Holt – Langston University (OK)
JUCO: Hank Plona – Indian Hills Community College (IA)
USCAA: Patrick Crarey, II -Washington Adventist University (MD)
NCAA DI: Kelvin Sampson – University of Houston
NCAA DII: Eric Bovaird – Chaminade University (HI)
NCAA DIII: Carl Danzig – University of Scranton (PA)
NAIA: Jared Ronai – Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH)
JUCO: William West – Prince George’s Community College (MD)
NCAA DI: Johnny Jones -Texas Southern University
NCAA DII: Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern University (FL)
NCAA DIII: Tom Spanbauer – SUNY Cortland
NAIA: Jayson Artaz – Bethel College (KS)
JUCO: Jeff Brustad – Monroe College (NY)
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
2017-18: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
2015-16: Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State (MI)
2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-AlexandriaN
JUCO
2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
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