Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, WHoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following women’s college basketball coaches have been honored with the Week 9 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 9 winners are:
D1: Karen Aston – University of Texas at San Antonio
With two more wins this week, Coach Aston has UTSA off to its best start in program history. On Wednesday, the Roadrunners defeated UAB at home by a score of 67-56 before hitting the road to close out the week. Facing off against Tulsa, UTSA came away with a 60-53 victory to move to 12-2 for the first time in program history. The win also improved the Roadrunners to 3-0 in AAC action, marking the first time the program has reached that record in conference play since the 2009-10 campaign as part of the Southland Conference. Additionally, the victory was the 50th of Coach Aston’s tenure at UTSA. The Roadrunners will look to stay perfect in AAC play when they host Rice on Wednesday evening.
NCAA D2: John Bonner – California State University, Dominguez Hills
After winter break, Coach Bonner’s squad picked up right where it left off, grabbing another pair of wins this week to remain undefeated on the season. The fifth-ranked Toros opened the new year with a top-25 matchup, traveling to take on No. 17 Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday. Dominguez Hills was able to pull out a hard-fought 65-61 victory for just their second single-digit win of the campaign. Back in action on Saturday, the Toros were back to their dominant ways, picking up a 76-58 victory at Cal State San Bernardino. Now 14-0 (6-0 CCAA), Dominguez Hills will continue its four-game road trip when it takes on Cal State San Marcos on Thursday.
NCAA D3: Katherine Auguste – Colorado College
Another pair of victories this week have Coach Auguste’s Tigers off to the program’s best start in almost 50 years. Closing out the D3Hoops Classic in Las Vegas on Monday, Colorado College defeated SUNY New Paltz 76-61, moving to 9-1 on the season and marking the program’s best 10-game start since the 1976-77 campaign. The Tigers continued their winning ways on Saturday, stifling St. Thomas’ offense in a 54-40 home victory. Now 11-1 (2-0 SCAC) on the season and ranked 25th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, CC will hit the road to take on Southwestern in a conference showdown on Friday.
NAIA: Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt – Southern Oregon University
Coach Kloppenburg-Pruitt’s squad picked up two more dominant victories this week, remaining unbeaten on the campaign. The 4th-ranked Raiders out-rebounded Evergreen 57-30 in an 82-40 win on Friday before taking down Northwest by a score of 79-49 the following day. The victories improved Southern Oregon to 13-0 (7-0 CCC) on the season, with every contest prior to the two this past week coming away from home. The Raiders will look to extend their winning streak to 28 games dating back to last season when they take on Multnomah on the road on Friday.
JUCO: Jessica Eaton – Florida State College at Jacksonville
Coach Eaton’s Manta Rays kicked off the new year on the right foot, winning a pair of games to match the program’s best start in over a decade. Playing at the Palm Beach State January Classic, FSCJ jumped out to a 25-4 first quarter lead over Montgomery College en route to a 78-50 victory on Friday. Back in action the following day, the Manta Rays found themselves in a much tighter game against Bay College. A layup in the game’s final moments propelled FSCJ to a hard-fought 57-55 triumph. Now 9-8 on the season, the Manta Rays will look for win No. 10 when they face off against Trinity Baptist on Tuesday 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.
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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