Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, WHoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following women’s college basketball coaches have been honored with the Week 4 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 4 winners are:
D1: Kara Lawson – Duke University
Coach Lawson led Duke to a trio of impressive wins this week, including two against fellow top-15 opponents. Playing at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas, the Blue Devils – then ranked No. 13 in the country – took down 9th-ranked Kansas State by a score of 73-62 on Monday to advance to the Classic’s title game. Facing off against No. 8 Oklahoma, Duke set a program record with 38 assists on 40 made field goals in a thrilling 109-99 overtime victory. The Blue Devils then closed out the week with a 77-61 home victory over Columbia on Sunday afternoon. Now 8-1 and ranked No. 8 in the latest AP Top-25 Poll, the Blue Devils will face another tough test when they travel to take on No. 3 South Carolina in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday night.
NCAA D2: Rick Neumann – University of Mary
Coach Neumann’s Marauders picked up two big victories at the Tampa Thanksgiving Classic this week, including a last-second win over a top-10 opponent. Taking on Saint Leo on Friday, UMary shot 14-28 from three en route to a 71-62 triumph. The Marauders then faced off against the University of Tampa, then-ranked No. 8 in the country, the following day. Sophomore Bergan Kinnebrew knocked down a go-ahead layup with just five seconds remaining in overtime to lift UMary to a thrilling 75-73 victory. Now 3-2 (0-1 NSIC), the Marauders will return to conference play when they host Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday afternoon.
NCAA D3: Mia Smith – Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan, led by Coach Smith, took two victories over tough opponents this week to claim its third consecutive Midwest Challenge title. The Titans, ranked 8th in the D3hoops.com Top-25 at the time, rebounded from an eight-point deficit to defeat RV DePauw 65-59 on Saturday and advance to the Challenge’s title game – a showdown with No. 11 WashU. Illinois Wesleyan came away with a 67-59 victory, handing the hosts their first loss of the season and picking up their third win against a ranked opponent this year. The impressive week saw the Titans move up to No. 4 in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll. Now 6-0 on the season, Illinois Wesleyan will open up conference play with a road matchup against North Park on Wednesday.
NAIA: NaJarius Green – Columbia College (SC)
With another victory this week, Coach Green has Columbia College off to its best start in program history. The Koalas made the short trip to take on crosstown rival Columbia International on Tuesday, coming away with a 91-70 victory to improve to 9-1 (4-1 AAC) on the campaign. Eight of the Koalas nine victories during their historic start have come by double digits. Columbia will look for their 10th win when they face off against Brenau in a road matchup on Wednesday evening.
JUCO: John Ontjes – Hutchinson Community College
Coach Ontjes’ Hutchinson squad picked up another pair of dominant victories this week, running their unbeaten streak to 47 games dating back to last season. The No. 1 Blue Dragons held both of their opponents to under 40 points this week, taking down Colby Community College 75-37 on Tuesday and Independence Community College 66-34 on Saturday. The wins marked the third and fourth times on the season that Hutchinson’s opponents have been held to fewer than 40 points, and the Blue Dragons have won nine of 10 by double digits. Now 10-0 (4-0 KJCCC) on the season, Hutchinson will look for its 33rd consecutive conference victory when it hosts Coffeyville Community College 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
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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