Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by The Hoop Group. The coaches are now eligible to receive the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award presented by the Hoop Group which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2016-17 college basketball season.
Nominations for next week’s award can be emailed to: [email protected] – please include a brief statement as to why the coach should be recognized as well as any other information that may be helpful.
The Week 9 winners are:
NCAA DI: Kevin Keatts, UNC Wilmington
Kevin Keatts and his Seahawks squad are reminding everyone the Tar Heels and Blue Devils aren’t the only formidable hoops competition in the state of North Carolina. Wilmington is coming off another 2-0 week having taken down William & Mary (101-77) and Hofstra (84-76) to improve to 6-0 in the Colonial and 17-2 on the year. The defending league champs have now won 15 out of their last 16 games and will look to remain on a roll this week with a pair of CAA match-ups including a road trip across state lines to take on Charleston.
NCAA DII: Bob Pietrack, Fort Lewis College (CO)
Coach Pietrack returns to the HD Coach of the Week scene for the second time in as many years as a result of his Sky Hawks 15-3 start. This past week, Fort Lewis beat league foes Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines both in convincing fashion. Those wins put them at 10-2 in league play (15-3 overall), aided by an impressive 26 game home winning streak dating back to last season. They’ll have two more opportunities to impress at “the Fort” this week with league match-ups against Regis and Chadron State.
NCAA DIII: Bob Ghiloni, Denison University (OH)
Bob Ghiloni and the Denison Big Red are off to a remarkable start, and continued their great play with two wins this past week. Ranked 10th in the country, they defeated Depauw at home (74-61), and the knocked off Wabash on the road (66-53) to improve their record to 14-1 overall and 8-0 in the competitive North Coast Athletic Conference. The 14-1 record marks Denison’s best start to a season since the 1913-14 squad completed their season with a 15-1 record. They will have a chance to match that record when they travel to Hiram College on Wednesday.
NAIA: Tony Ingle, Dalton State (GA)
Coach Ingle and his ninth-ranked Roadrunners were road warriors this week, as they went 2-0 away from home, and knocked off a Top-20 squad along the way. Thursday night, they headed to Middle Georgia State where they dispatched the Knights 82-64. The Roadrunners then traveled to #18 William Carey on Saturday where they knocked down two free throw with three seconds remaining in the game to escape with an 81-79 victory. Ingles crew is now 14-1 (6-1) on the season, and have rung up nine straight W’s.
JUCO: Charlie Wilson, Indian River State College (FL)
Indian River State is as hot as anybody at the Junior College level right now. Winners of 6 straight they currently stand at 4-0 in league play and 13-4 overall. Their win on January 10th was especially impressive as Coach Wilson’s squad downed #7 Eastern Florida State 77-71. The Pioneers erased an 11-point halftime deficit en route to a 47-point second half to secure the upset. IRSC capped off their 2-0 week in a battle with Broward College in which they won 83-82.
Previous Weekly Winners:
Week 1:
NCAA DI: Tom Crean, Indiana
NCAA DII: Brian Beaury, College of Saint Rose
NCAA DIII: David Hixon, Amherst College
NAIA: Jeff Britt, Bethel College (TN)
JUCO: John Pigatti, South Suburban College (IL)
Week 2:
NCAA DI: Chris Holtman, Butler
NCAA DII: Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State
NCAA DIII: Tom Slyder, Northpark
NAIA: Kevin Burton, Union College (KY)
JUCO: Martin McCann, Palm Beach State
Week 3:
NCAA DI: Scott Drew, Baylor
NCAA DII: Kyle Tolin, Arknasas Monticello
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose, Illinois Wesleyan
NAIA: Craig Doty, Graceland College
JUCO: Steven DeMeo, Northwest Florida State
Week 4:
NCAA DI: Roy Williams, University of North Carolina
NCAA DII: Jerrod Calhoun, Fairmont State University
NCAA DIII: Luke Flockerzi, University of Rochester
NAIA: Kim Elders, Cornerstone University
JUCO: Patrick Smith, Moberly Area Community College
Week 5:
NCAA DI: Steve Forbes, East Tennessee State
NCAA DII: Rodney Watson, University of Southern Indiana
NCAA DIII: Charlie Brock, Springfield College
NAIA: Rollie Massimino, Keiser University
JUCO: Luke Strege, Mineral Area College
Week 6:
NCAA DI: Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech
NCAA DII: Paul Trevor, San Francisco State
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland, Whitman College
NAIA: Jeff Rutter, Arizona Christian
JUCO: David Archer, Jr., Chattahoochee Tech
Week 7:
NCAA DI: Kelvin Sampson, Houston
NCAA DII: Jamie Stevens, Montana State Billings
NCAA DIII: Mark Edwards, Washington University (St. Louis)
NAIA: Kelly Wells, University of Pikeville (KY)
JUCO: Steve Green, South Plains College (TX)
Week 8:
NCAA DI: Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s
NCAA DII: Nelson Haggerty, Midwestern State (TX)
NCAA DIII: Chris Martin, Loras College (IA)
NAIA: Larry Cordaro, LSU Alexandria
JUCO: Todd Lorensen, Southwestern CC (IA)
