By AJ Nelson, HoopDirt.com staff writer
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 9 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 9 winners are:
NCAA DI: Scott Drew – Baylor University
Coach Drew’s squad moved to 5-0 against ranked opponents on the season after picking up two huge road wins this week. On Tuesday, the No. 4 Bears took down 22nd ranked Texas Tech 57-52, snapping the Red Raiders 15-game home court winning streak. Baylor next traveled to take on No. 3 Kansas and their 28-game home winning streak. Using a dominant first half, the Bears came away with a 67-55 victory, marking their first ever victory at Kansas, as well as the program’s first road victory against a top five opponent. Now 13-1 (3-0 Big 12) on the season, Baylor returns home to take on Iowa State on Wednesday night.
NCAA DII: Eric Olen – University of California, San Diego
Two more road wins this week have Coach Olen’s Tritons off to the best start in program history. No. 6 UC San Diego traveled to Stanislaus State on Thursday and took a 74-60 victory before traveling to Humboldt State on Saturday. The Tritons won by a score of 86-70, marking their seventh straight victory and improving them to 15-1 (9-1 CCAA) on the season. UC San Diego will look to stay hot when they return home to take on Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday.
NCAA DIII: Jim Calhoun – University of Saint Joseph (CT)
Coach Calhoun cemented his name in the college basketball history books this week, as he picked up career victory No. 900. The Blue Jays first blew out Castleton 87-41 on the road on Monday before heading back home to take on Pratt on Friday. USJ took a 105-61 victory to mark No. 900 in Coach Calhoun’s storied career. Calhoun becomes the 11th coach in men’s college basketball history to reach that milestone, and sports a career record of 900-394. His Blue Jays have now won 10 straight and are 11-2 on the season. USJ takes on Williams at home on Tuesday in their final non-conference match-up of the season.
NAIA: Preston Ingram – Missouri Baptist University
Coach Ingram’s squad extended their winning streak to five with two more wins this week. The Spartans began a two-game home-stand with a 72-61 victory over Williams Baptist on Thursday. They next faced off against Freed-Hardeman, who entered the match-up riding a seven-game winning streak. Trailing by 10 at the half, Missouri Baptist rallied in the second to come away with an impressive 85-83 victory. The Spartans are now 11-5 (7-3 AMC) on the season, and will look to make it six straight when they travel to take on Hannibal-Lagrange on Saturday.
JUCO: Zach Settembre – Tallahassee Community College (FL)
Tallahassee Community College, led by Coach Settembre, came away with two big victories last week to improve to 18-2 on the season. The Eagles knocked off Chipola College for the first time since 2016 in a 73-71 nailbiter in the conference opener last Saturday before heading on the road to take on Northwest Florida. Tallahassee took down NWF on the road for the first time since 2011 to extend their winning streak to four. The Eagles will look to move to 3-0 in conference play when they take on Pensacola State at home on Wednesday.
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)
NCAA DI: Steve Forbes – East Tennessee State University
NCAA DII: Damien Blair – West Chester University (PA)
NCAA DIII: Anthony Medina – University of St. Thomas (TX)
NAIA: Colby Blaine – College of Idaho
JUCO: Terry Bowe – Lakeland Community College (OH)
NCAA DI: Kelvin Sampson – University of Houston
NCAA DII: DII Winter Break Week – No Winner
NCAA DIII: Pete Moran – John Carroll University (OH)
NAIA: Matt Wilber – Dakota Wesleyan University
JUCO: Eric Murphy – Florida SouthWestern State University
NCAA DI: Brian Dutcher – San Diego State University
NCAA DII: Kyle Gerdeman – Lindenwood University (MO)
NCAA DIII: Jeff Brown – Middlebury College (VT)
NAIA: Patrick Crarey – Washington Adventist University (MD)
JUCO: Luke Strege – Mineral Area College (MO)
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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