Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – WHoopDirt.com is proud to announce the recipients of the Week 1 WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Fastbreak Playbook. These coaches have been recognized for their outstanding performances, leadership, and accomplishments during the opening week of the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season.
The Week 1 honorees have earned recognition among the nation’s top women’s college basketball coaches and will now become eligible for the prestigious WHoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, also presented by Fastbreak Playbook. The National Coach of the Year will be selected from this season’s weekly award recipients and announced following the conclusion of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
Now in its seventh season, the WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs continue to recognize excellence across all levels of women’s college basketball. The awards celebrate coaches whose teams have distinguished themselves through outstanding performances, preparation, leadership, and commitment to their student-athletes.
Congratulations to this week’s recipients! The Week 1 winners are listed below, along with all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
Nominations for Future Weeks
WHoopDirt.com welcomes nominations throughout the season. If you know a women’s college basketball coach deserving of recognition for an outstanding week, please send nominations to [email protected].
The week 1 winners are:
DI – Kim Barnes Arico – University of Michigan
Coach Barnes Arico guided her Wolverines to one of their biggest regular season wins in program history this past week, allowing Michigan to claim its best-ever ranking in the latest AP Top-25 Poll. Preseason No. 5 Michigan kicked off its season with the first top-5 women’s basketball showdown in Crisler Center history, hosting preseason No. 2 UConn on Thursday evening. The Wolverines shot 45% from three en route to a 77-66 victory, defeating a top-2 team for the first time in program history. Following the huge win, Michigan dominated Wright State 109-52 on Sunday, leading by as many as 65 in the contest. Thanks to the historic week, the Wolverines jumped to No. 2 in the most recent AP Top-25 Poll for the first time ever. They will next head to New York City for a matchup against Columbia on Thursday night.
DII – No Games Played
DII – Not Enough Games Played
NAIA – Jeff Graham – Montana Tech
Coach Graham led Montana Tech to another pair of impressive victories this past week as his Orediggers improved to 5-0 on the campaign, with four of those wins coming against teams ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top-25 Poll. Following wins over RV Eastern Oregon and No. 22 College of Idaho last weekend, the preseason No. 21 Orediggers traveled to Nebraska for the Caldwell Classic on Friday and Saturday. Montana Tech kicked off the Classic with a thriller against No. 10 Concordia, knocking down a buzzer-beater to force overtime and eventually come away with an 80-77 victory. Back in action the following morning, the Orediggers shot 53% from three to take down 2nd-ranked Dakota Wesleyan 78-62 and pick up their first top-5 win in program history. Now 5-0 after the historic win, Montana Tech will take on Oregon Tech as part of the Peggy Sarsfield Basketball Weekend on Saturday afternoon.
JUCO – Chelsea Dewey – Arizona Western College
Coach Dewey’s Arizona Western squad has come out of the gates scorching hot, picking up three wins in three days to begin the campaign. In their season opener on Thursday, the 21st-ranked Matadors found themselves trailing Snow by six points entering the fourth quarter before using a strong final period to come away with a hard-fought 80-78 victory. Back in action the next day, Arizona Western forced 25 turnovers in a 72-58 triumph over North Idaho. The Matadors then closed out the three-game stretch with another fourth quarter comeback, this time rebounding from a 10-point deficit entering the final period and pulling out a 64-61 victory. Now 3-0 on the season, Arizona Western will host Phoenix College in their home opener on Tuesday evening.
2025-26 WHoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
NCAA DII: Tim Kirby – Harding University
NCAA DIII: Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft – Shenandoah University
NAIA: Bill Harmsen – Dordt University
JUCO: Jaleel Taylor – Union College (NJ)
NCAA DI: Vic Schaefer – University of Texas
NCAA DII: Johnette Walker – Newberry College
NCAA DIII: Meg Barber – New York University
NAIA: DeWayne Burroughs – Shawnee State University
JUCO: Nicole Collier – State Fair Community College
NCAA DI: Molly Miller – Arizona State University
NCAA DII: Tasha Diesselhorst – Northwestern Oklahoma State University
NCAA DIII: Megan Phelps – Bowdoin College
NAIA: DeWitt Mandley – Wiley University
JUCO: Damel Ling – Monroe University – Bronx
NCAA DI: Linda Cimino – Dartmouth College
NCAA DII: Travis Ponton – Queens College
NCAA DIII: Julie Prichett – Brandeis University
NAIA: David Moe – Dakota State University
JUCO: Madonna Thompson – Shelton State Community College
NCAA DI: Krista Gerlich – Texas Tech University
NCAA DII: Heather Macy – Nova Southeastern University
NCAA DIII: Gabby Holko – Susquehanna University
NAIA: Suntana Anderson – Marian University (IN)
JUCO: Mitch Rolls – Chipola College
Week 6
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
Week 7
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
NCAA DI: Greg Todd – Eastern Kentucky University
NCAA DII: Emry Tsitouris – Lenoir-Rhyne University
NCAA DIII: Alison Montgomery – Bates College
NAIA: Abby Stutts – Freed-Hardeman University
JUCO: Chelsea Waters – Tallahassee State College
NCAA DI: Destinee Rogers – Arkansas State University
NCAA DII: Emilee Thiesse – Minnesota State University, Mankato
NCAA DIII: Maureen Hirt – Denison University
NAIA: Jessica Garriga – William Carey University
JUCO: Chelsey Warburton – Utah State University Eastern
NCAA DI: Jan Jensen – University of Iowa
NCAA DII: Danielle Fleming – PennWest Clarion
NCAA DIII: Ben O’Brien – University of Scranton
NAIA: Jamarra Robinson – Stillman College
JUCO: Marvin Evans – Harford Community College
NCAA DI: Cori Close – University of California, Los Angeles
NCAA DII: Paul Honsinger – Eckerd College
NCAA DIII: David Chadbourne – University of Southern Maine
NAIA: Ethan Whaley – Indiana Wesleyan University
JUCO: Doug Haynes – Community College of Rhode Island
NCAA DI: Dawn Thornton – Alabama A&M University
NCAA DII: Taylor Wagner – Colorado Mesa University
NCAA DIII: Kelly McNiff – University of Wisconsin – Platteville
NAIA: Matt Moore – Columbia College (MO)
JUCO: Bart Walker – Northwest Florida State College
NCAA DI: Brenda Frese – University of Maryland
NCAA DII: Carrie Lohr – Wayne State University
NCAA DIII: Rodney Rogan – Johns Hopkins University
NAIA: Jacob Roark – Faulkner University
JUCO: Jonathan Denney – Southwestern Illinois College
NCAA DI: Amaka Agugua-Hamilton – University of Virginia
NCAA DII: Beth Jillson – Texas Woman’s University
NCAA DIII: Brian Morehouse – Hope College
NAIA: Jeff Nickel – Georgetown College (KY)
JUCO: Mike Seney – Monroe University
