Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 1 WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Pivot Analysis. These coaches are now eligible to receive the WHoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award presented by Pivot Analysis which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2023-24 college basketball season.
This is the fifth season that WHoopDirt.com has run the Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. The list of 2023-24 Coach of the Week winners, as well as previous Coach of the Year winners can be found below this week’s recipients
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 1 winners are:
D1: Larry Vickers – Norfolk State University
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (3-0)
Past week’s results: 66-64 W at William & Mary, 51-49 W at Drexel, 70-46 W at Radford.
Highlights: Three wins on the road for Vickers and his squad to start the season, highlighted by a pair of 2 point victories. In the opener vs W&M, the Spartans erased a 20 point deficit thanks in part to a 17-0 third quarter run. Two night’s later, they knocked down a 3 with :20 seconds left to secure a two-point victory at Drexel. NSU wrapped-up the week by handing Radford their first loss of the season in a 24-point blowout win.
NCAA D2: Megan Dzikas – Florida Southern College
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (2-0)
Past week’s results: 55-49 W vs Alabama Huntsville, 76-64 W vs #21 Lee.
Highlights: A nice opening win for FSC on Friday, as they knocked off UAH to start the season in the Sunshine State Conference/Gulf South Conference Crossover (UAH beat #3 Tampa the next day). On Saturday, the Mocs downed #21 Lee, giving them their first 2-0 start since 2018, and their first victory over Lee since 2018.
NCAA D3: Meg Barber – NYU
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (2-0)
Past week’s results: 88-55 W vs MIT, 72-52 W vs Johns Hopkins.
Highlights: Two quality wins to kick-off the season at the Scholars Classic for the NCAA D3 #2 ranked Violets. NYU, playing their first game at the all new John A. Paulson Center on Friday night, dominated MIT leading by as many as 40 en route to a 33-point win. In the second game of the week on Saturday, NYU trailed JHU by 2 at the half before coming out of the break on fire and dominating the 3rd quarter 26-9. NYU is led by 2022-23 D3hoops.com National Player of the Year Morgan Morrison, a grad transfer who played for four seasons at Smith College.
NAIA: Bill Harmsen – Dordt University
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (5-0)
Past week’s results: 91-51 W vs University of Saint Mary, 81-68 W vs #22 Mayville State.
Highlights: Harmsen’s NAIA #3 ranked Defenders continued their hot start to the season with two more wins last week at the Northwestern Pizza Ranch Classic. Dordt handed Saint Mary their first loss of the season with a 40 point drubbing on Friday night. The next day, Harmsen’s Defenders beat their second ranked team of the season as they downed #22 Mayville State in a game that they dominated the glass 50-23. Earlier this season, Dordt knocked off #8 Dakota State 90-54.
JUCO: Bart Walker – Northwest Florida State
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (5-0)
Past week’s results: 95-38 W vs East Mississippi, 80-35 W vs Miami Dade, 70-45 W vs Eastern Florida.
Highlights: The top-ranked NJCAA D1 team in the country had another dominant week as they pushed their record to 5-0. The Raiders held their opponents to just 39.3ppg last week, and are now allowing only 41.2ppg for the season. On the year, NWF’s average margin of victory is 36 points, and they are out-rebounding their opponents by 13 per game.
Week 1
NCAA DI: Larry Vickers – Norfolk State University
NCAA DII: Megan Dzikas – Florida Southern College
NCAA DIII: Meg Barber – NYU
NAIA: Bill Harmsen – Dordt University
JUCO: MJ Baker – Northwest Florida State College
Previous WHoopDirt.com / Pivot Analysis Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
- 2022-23: Kenny Brooks – Virginia Tech University
- 2021-22: Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
- 2020-21: Adia Barnes – University of Arizona
- 2019-20: Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Division II
- 2022-23: Kari Pickens – Ashland University
- 2021-22: Kim Stephens – Glenville State College
- 2020-21: Steve Gomez – Lubbock Christian University
- 2019-20: Molly Miller – Drury University
Division III
- 2022-23: Juli Fulks – Transylvania University
- 2021-22: Brian Morehouse – Hope College
- 2020-21: Brian Morehouse – Hope College
- 2019-20: Jill Pace – Tufts University
NAIA
- 2022-23: Courtney Boyd – Clarke University
- 2021-22: Jeff Hans – Thomas More College
- 2020-21: Kirsten Moore – Westmont College
- 2019-20: Chris Nelson – Bethel University
JUCO
- 2022-23: Mike Seney – CCBC Essex
- 2021-22: Trenia Tillis Hoard – Tyler Junior College
- 2020-21: No winner named – COVID season
- 2019-20: Cayla Petree – South Plains College
