Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 12 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 12 winners are:
D1: Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (19-0)
Past week’s results: 76-70 W at #9 LSU, 91-74 W vs Vanderbilt
Highlights: Staley’s #1 Gamecocks drilled a 3 with 1:14 remaining as USC rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat ninth-ranked and defending national champion LSU 76-70 on Thursday night. The win marked the end of LSU’s 29 game win streak at home and extended the Gamecocks’ SEC-record road win streak to 28. USC then hosted Vanderbilt on Sunday, with the Commodores coming into Columbia sporting their best 20-game start in 17 years (17-3 at the time). Staley’s squad used a 22-9 second quarter run to pull away and didn’t look back en route to 91-74 win. With that victory, the Gamecocks have now tallied 23 consecutive wins at home by double digits.
NCAA D2: Trent May – Southern Nazarene University
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (18-0)
Past week’s results: 63-46 W vs Oklahoma Baptist, 68-52 W vs Southeast Oklahoma
Highlights: Two more wins last week have kept #4 Southern Nazarene’s perfect season (18-0) in tact. SNU opened their week on Thursday by jumping out to a 42-17 lead at Oklahoma Baptist and came away with a 63-46 win. The Storm held the Bison to just 26% shooting for the game, and 16% from 3. On Saturday, SNU came away with another double digit win, beating visiting Southeast Oklahoma 68-52. So far this season, Southern Nazarene is allowing just 53.9ppg and holding opponents to 34% shooting from the floor.
NCAA D3: Peg Swadener – Willamette University
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (12-7)
Past week’s results: 71-58 W at Lewis & Clark, 67-62 W VS #22 Whitman, 66-47 W vs Whitworth
Highlights: Willamette is now on a five-game winning streak thanks in part to three more victories last week. The Bearcats traveled to Lewis & Clark on Monday where they shot 50% for the game on their way to a 71-58 win. On Friday, Willamette knocked off NCAA D3 #24 Whitman 67-62, in a game that they trailed entering the fourth quarter. Swadener’s team finished off the perfect week on Saturday by outscoring Whitworth 52-27 over the final three quarters to come away with the 66-47 win. The Bearcats finished the month of January with a 7-1 record, and have a 9-1 record in the NWC.
NAIA: Alico Dunk – Stillman College
Weekly record (overall): 4-0 (11-7)
Past week’s results: 65-44 W at Tennessee Southern, 74-45 W vs Talladega, 58-39 W vs Brewton Parker, 74-59 W vs Middle Georgia
Highlights: Dunk coached Stillman to four wins in six days to move to 5-1 in January. The Tigers averaged a 21-point margin of victory through the week (67.8 – 46.8). Stillman is now 7th in the nation, and first in the Southern States Athletic Conference, in scoring defense, holding opponents to 53.6 points through 18 games this season. On Monday, Stillman held UT Southern to its second-lowest points of the season (44). On Thursday, Dunk’s Tigers held Brewton-Parker to 39 points, the lowest points allowed to a SSAC team in program history. It was also the second-fewest points scored this season by a SSAC team in a conference game.
JUCO: Rory Kuhn – Gulf Coast State
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (19-1)
Past week’s results: 89-57 W at Tallahassee CC, 74-42 W VS #1 Northwest Florida
Highlights: Then NJCAA D1 #2 Gulf Coast began the week on Wednesday by turning Tallahassee over 21 times, and out rebounding them by 11 in an 89-57 blowout win on the road. On Saturday, thanks in part to a monster 22-5 3rd quarter (and 46-20 second half), they upset NJCAA D1 #1 Northwest Florida 74-42. NWF was a perfect 18-0 on the season entering the game, and Gulf Coast was able to hold them to 35 points below their season average of 77. Kuhn’s squad has taken over the #1 spot from NWF in this week’s national poll, receiving all 10 first place votes.
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
NCAA DI: Nicki Collen – Baylor University
NCAA DII: John Nakpodia – University of District Columbia
NCAA DIII: Christin Gowan – McDaniel College
NAIA: Jeff Nickel – Georgetown College (KY)
JUCO: Kori Stephenson – Mesa CC
NCAA DI: Wes Moore – North Carolina State
NCAA DII: Tom Shirley – Thomas Jefferson University
NCAA DIII: Juli Fulks – Transylvania University
NAIA: Ginger High Colvin – Campbellsville University
JUCO: Erika Harris – Moberly Area CC
NCAA DI: Joye Lee-McNelis – Southern Miss
NCAA DII: Anna Kowalska – Wheeling University
NCAA DIII: Kelly Thompson – Roger Williams University
NAIA: DeWitte Mandley – Wiley University
JUCO: Mike Helmer – Butler Community College
NCAA DI: Jason Burton – University of North Texas
NCAA DII: Will Brown – College of St. Rose
NCAA DIII: Kate Vlahakis – Manhattanville College
NAIA: Ethan Whaley – Indiana Wesleyan University
JUCO: Bob McKinley – Weatherford College
NCAA DI: Anthony Bozzella – Seton Hall
NCAA DII: Kurt Westendorp – Ferris State University
NCAA DIII: Hannah Iverson – UW-Stout
NAIA: Kevin Herod – Langston University
JUCO: Darryl Watkins – Rock Valley College
Week 7
NCAA DI: Christmas Holiday – no winner selected
NCAA DII: Christmas Holiday – no winner selected
NCAA DIII: Christmas Holiday – no winner selected
NAIA: Christmas Holiday – no winner selected
JUCO: Christmas Holiday – no winner selected
NCAA DI: Cori Close – UCLA
NCAA DII: Mike Williams – Grand Valley State University
NCAA DIII: Randi Henderson – Washington University in St. Louis
NAIA: Dennis Hutter – Mayville State
JUCO: Jamarra Robinson – Indian River State College
NCAA DI: Kenny Brooks – Virginia Tech
NCAA DII: Cleve Wright – Gannon University
NCAA DIII: KJ Krasco – Middlebury College
NAIA: Jeff Soderquist – John Brown University
JUCO: Marbely Montas – Union College
NCAA DI: Jesyka Burks-Wiley – Florida International University
NCAA DII: Ann Hancock – Wingate University
NCAA DIII: Brian Morehouse – Hope College
NAIA: Tony Campbell – Reinhardt University
JUCO: Brock Kimball – Cisco College
NCAA DI: Tara VanDerveer – Stanford University
NCAA DII: Molly Martin – Regis University
NCAA DIII: Aby Diop – Dickinson College
NAIA: Chad Folsom – Benedictine College
JUCO: Mike Seney – CCBC Essex
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
