Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, WHoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following women’s college basketball coaches have been honored with the Week 13 WHoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by FastBreak PlayBook. These coaches are now eligible for the prestigious WHoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, presented by FastBreak PlayBook, which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2024-25 college basketball season.
This year, WHoopDirt.com has partnered with FastBreak PlayBook to bring even more value to the Coach of the Week program. As part of the collaboration, each weekly winner will receive a complimentary Full-Team Annual Membership to the FastBreak PlayBook platform.
“FastBreak PlayBook is very excited to partner with WhoopDirt for the Coach of the Week Award. We are passionate about bringing a spotlight to deserving women’s basketball coaches and look forward to providing a free Full-Team Annual Membership to each winner.” – Kendall Acho, Chief Operating Officer
This marks the fifth season of WHoopDirt.com’s Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. The list of 2024-25 weekly winners, as well as the all-time COY recipients can be found below this week’s release.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 13 winners are:
D1: Chelsea Lyles – Florida Gulf Coast University
Coach Lyles’ Eagles put on a pair of dominant defensive showings this week, allowing just 85 combined points across two victories. Florida Gulf Coast defeated Lipscomb 63-50 on Thursday before knocking off Austin Peay 45-35 in a defensive battle on Sunday. The performances lowered the Eagles’ scoring defense to 52.2 points per game this year – third best in the nation. Additionally, the victories extended Florida Gulf Coast’s winning streak to 12, with all of them coming by double-digits. Since Coach Lyles took over two games into the season, the Eagles are 19-1 (19-3 overall, 10-0 ASUN). They will look to stay hot when they visit Bellarmine on Thursday evening.
NCAA D2: Mike Williams – Grand Valley State University
With another pair of dominant victories this week, Coach Williams’ squad is now riding its second 10+ game winning streak of the season. No. 1 Grand Valley State played both of its games on the road this week, defeating Northern Michigan 74-48 on Thursday and Michigan Tech 69-51 on Saturday. The wins continued an utterly dominant season for the Lakers, who are now 22-1 (12-0 GLIAC), with their only loss coming against DI Ohio State. Each of their wins have come by double-digits, and all but one have come by at least 15 points. Grand Valley State will return home to host Lake Superior State on Thursday.
NCAA D3: Lindsey Burke-Eberhart – Randolph-Macon College
Coach Burke-Eberhart guided Randolph-Macon to two more wins this week, extending the Eagles’ winning streak to a program-record 17 games. On Wednesday, Randolph-Macon recorded 25 assists on 32 made field goals in a 74-49 triumph over Virginia Wesleyan. The Yellow Jackets then hit the road for a tough matchup against then-No. 17 Washington and Lee on Saturday. The contest did not disappoint, with Randolph-Macon eventually coming away with an 86-83 victory in double-overtime. With the wins, the Yellow Jackets jumped into the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, taking over the No. 22 spot in the rankings. Now 18-1 (11-0 ODAC) on the season, they will look to continue their climb up the rankings when they host Bridgewater on Wednesday night.
NAIA: Ethan Whaley – Indiana Wesleyan University
Indiana Wesleyan’s perfect season continued this week, as Coach Whaley led the Wildcats to yet another pair of double-digit victories. The No. 2 team in the nation opened the week with a strong defensive performance, defeating Grace College 59-43 on Wednesday. Returning to action on Saturday, Indiana Wesleyan trailed Bethel by one at the half before turning on the jets to take a 76-60 victory. The wins propelled the Wildcats to 22-0 (12-0 CRL) on the season, with 18 of their victories coming by double-digits. They will look to keep it rolling when they travel to take on Spring Arbor on Wednesday.
JUCO: Misty Opat – Cochise College
Coach Opat’s Apaches won another pair of games this week, continuing their climb up the NJCAA DI Top 25 rankings. Then-No. 18 Cochise began its week with a Top-20 matchup, hosting then-No. 12 Arizona Western on Wednesday. The Apaches put on a strong defensive showing, taking a 56-46 victory and avenging a December loss to Arizona Western. Cochise then closed out the week with an 83-56 road victory over Yavapai, improving to 16-6 on the season and extending its winning streak to 11 games. With the victories, Cochise jumped four spots to No. 14 in the latest Top 25 rankings. The Apaches will try to stay hot when they visit Central Arizona on Wednesday evening.
2024-25 WHoopDirt.com / FastBreak PlayBook Coach of the Week Winners
Week 1
Early season – no winners selected.
NCAA DI: Kenny Brooks – University of Kentucky
NCAA DII: Buffie Burson – University of North Georgia
NCAA DIII: Laurie Kelly – Gustavus Adolphus College
NAIA: Bill Harmsen – Dordt University
JUCO: Mike Seney – CCBC Essex
NCAA DI: Geno Auriemma – UConn
NCAA DII: Danielle Fleming – PennWest Clarion
NCAA DIII: Lindsay Schultz – Carroll University
NAIA: Hannah Moeller – Mid-American Christian University
JUCO: Austin Mefford – New Mexico Junior College
NCAA DI: Kara Lawson – Duke University
NCAA DII: Rick Neumann – University of Mary
NCAA DIII: Mia Smith – Illinois Wesleyan University
NAIA: NaJarius Green – Columbia College
JUCO: John Ontjes – Hutchinson Community College
NCAA DI: Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
NCAA DII: Kari Kerkhoff – McKendree University
NCAA DIII: Meg Barber – New York University
NAIA: Adam Hocking – Clarke University
JUCO: Jamie Fisher – Florida SouthWestern State College
Week 6
NCAA DI: Vanessa Blair-Lewis – George Mason University
NCAA DII: Emry Tsitouris – Mars Hill University
NCAA DIII: Megan Phelps – Bowdoin College
NAIA: Alico Dunk – Stillman College
JUCO: Nate Beutel – SUNY Niagara
Week 7
Winter Break – No winners selected.
Week 8
Winter Break – No winners selected.
NCAA DI: Karen Aston – University of Texas at San Antonio
NCAA DII: John Bonner – California State University, Dominguez Hills
NCAA DIII: Katherine Auguste – Colorado College
NAIA: Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt – Southern Oregon University
JUCO: Jessica Eaton – Florida State College at Jacksonville
NCAA DI: Charmin Smith – University of California, Berkeley
NCAA DII: Lisa Wilson – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
NCAA DIII: Cheri Harrer – Baldwin-Wallace University
NAIA: Bo Browder – Xavier University of Louisiana
JUCO: Bart Walker – Northwest Florida State College
NCAA DI: Vernette Skeete – Texas Southern University
NCAA DII: Matt Houser – Columbus State University
NCAA DIII: Brad Fischer – University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
NAIA: Chris Vincent – Langston University
JUCO: Marbely Montas – Union College (NJ)
Week 12
NCAA DI: Kevin McGuff – Ohio State University
NCAA DII: Courtney Boyd – Quincy University
NCAA DIII: James Boney – Rutgers University-Camden
NAIA: Rick Reeves – University of the Cumberlands
JUCO: Mitch Rolls – Chipola College
Previous 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
FastBreak PlayBook provides coaches with a database of plays drawn by professional and college level coaches with coaching points and player assignments. All plays are editable to fit your system or you can quickly draw your own with their custom-built play drawing tool. Additional features allow coaches to create practice schedules, scouting reports, as well as integrate and distribute video to their team directly with the mobile team app.
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