The NABC Coach of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top head coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, II, and III, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and two-year colleges.

The award has been given since the 1958–59 season to NCAA Division I coaches, since 1961–62 to Division II, and since 1975–76 to Division III coaches. At the NAIA level it has been awarded since 1992–93, while the two-year schools' coaches have been honored since 1983–84.. Within these, the NABC also names District Coaches of the Year before ultimately selecting one National Coach of the Year.

Through the 2024–25 college basketball season, there have been 35 multiple-time winners spanning the four associations. Larry Gipson and Ray Harper are the only repeat winners who were honored at multiple association levels. Gipson won in 1982–83 at the helm of two-year school Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, and again in 2002–03 while leading Division II's Northeastern State. Harper won in 1998–99 and 2000–01 at the NCAA Division II level while also earning the award in 2007–08 in the NAIA.

Two coaches are tied for the most all-time awards, with five apiece: John Wooden of UCLA (Division I) and Ben McCollum of Northwest Missouri State (Division II). Close behind them with four awards is Bo Ryan of Wisconsin–Platteville (Division III).

Key † Co-Coaches of the Year Coach (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the NABC Coach of the Year award at that point

Coaches of the Year NCAA + Division I Season Winner Team Reference 1958–59 Marquette 1959–60 California 1960–61 Ohio State 1961–62 (2) Ohio State 1962–63 Cincinnati 1963–64 UCLA 1964–65 Princeton 1965–66 Kentucky 1966–67 (2) UCLA 1967–68 Houston 1968–69 (3) UCLA 1969–70 (4) UCLA 1970–71 Villanova 1971–72 (5) UCLA 1972–73 Memphis 1973–74 Marquette 1974–75 Indiana 1975–76 Michigan 1976–77 North Carolina 1977–78† Duke Texas 1978–79 DePaul 1979–80 Iowa 1980–81† Kansas State Oregon State 1981–82 Idaho 1982–83 St. John's 1983–84 Washington 1984–85 Georgetown 1985–86 Kentucky 1986–87 Providence 1987–88 Temple 1988–89 Seton Hall 1989–90 Michigan State 1990–91 Duke 1991–92 USC 1992–93 Vanderbilt 1993–94† Purdue Arkansas 1994–95 UCLA 1995–96 UMass 1996–97 Minnesota 1997–98 North Carolina 1998–99† (2) Duke Ohio State 1999–00 (2) Purdue 2000–01 Michigan State 2001–02 Oklahoma 2002–03 Kentucky 2003–04† Saint Joseph's Stanford 2004–05 Illinois 2005–06 Villanova 2006–07 Butler 2007–08 Davidson 2008–09† Missouri (2) Memphis 2009–10 Syracuse 2010–11 San Diego State 2011–12 (2) Michigan State 2012–13 Saint Louis 2013–14 Wichita State 2014–15 (3) Kentucky 2015–16 Kansas 2016–17 Gonzaga 2017–18 Virginia 2018–19 Purdue 2019–20 Dayton 2020–21 (2) Gonzaga 2021–22 Arizona 2022–23 Marquette 2023–24 (2) Houston 2024–25 Auburn 2025–26 Duke + Division II Season Winner Team Reference 1958–59 No award 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 Mount St. Mary's 1962–63 South Dakota 1963–64 Evansville 1964–65 (2) Evansville 1965–66 Kentucky Wesleyan 1966–67 Winston-Salem State 1967–68 Trinity (TX) 1968–69 American International 1969–70 Kentucky State 1970–71 Kentucky Wesleyan 1971–72 Roanoke 1972–73 Kentucky Wesleyan 1973–74 Southwest Missouri State 1974–75 Old Dominion 1975–76† Philadelphia Textile Puget Sound 1976–77 Chattanooga 1977–78 Cheyney State 1978–79 Green Bay 1979–80 Florida Southern 1980–81 (2) Mount St. Mary's 1981–82 Wabash 1982–83 Wright State 1983–84 Central Missouri State 1984–85 Jacksonville State 1985–86 Sacred Heart 1986–87 Kentucky Wesleyan 1987–88 UMass Lowell 1988–89 North Carolina Central 1989–90 (2) Kentucky Wesleyan 1990–91 North Alabama 1991–92 Bridgeport 1992–93 Cal State Bakersfield 1993–94 (2) Cal State Bakersfield 1994–95 Southern Indiana 1995–96 Fort Hays State 1996–97 (3) Cal State Bakersfield 1997–98 UC Davis 1998–99 Kentucky Wesleyan 1999–00 Metro State 2000–01 (2) Kentucky Wesleyan 2001–02 (2) Metro State 2002–03 (2) Northeastern State 2003–04 Kennesaw State 2004–05 Virginia Union 2005–06 Winona State 2006–07 Barton 2007–08 (2) Winona State 2008–09 Findlay 2009–10 Cal Poly Pomona 2010–11 Bellarmine 2011–12 Western Washington 2012–13 Drury 2013–14 Central Missouri 2014–15 Florida Southern 2015–16 Augustana (SD) 2016–17 Northwest Missouri State 2017–18 Ferris State 2018–19 (2) Northwest Missouri State 2019–20 (3) Northwest Missouri State 2020–21 (4) Northwest Missouri State 2021–22 (5) Northwest Missouri State 2022–23 Nova Southeastern 2023–24 Minnesota State 2024–25 (2) Nova Southeastern 2025–26 Cal State East Bay + Division III Season Winner Team Reference 1958–59 No award 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 Wittenberg 1976–77 Wittenberg 1977–78 North Park 1978–79 (2) North Park 1979–80 (3) North Park 1980–81 Potsdam State 1981–82 Cal State Bakersfield 1982–83 Scranton 1983–84 Wisconsin–Whitewater 1984–85 Albany 1985–86 (2) Potsdam State 1986–87 North Park 1987–88 Ohio Wesleyan 1988–89 (2) Wisconsin–Whitewater 1989–90 Rochester 1990–91 Wisconsin–Platteville 1991–92 Calvin 1992–93 Ohio Northern 1993–94 Lehigh Valley 1994–95 (2) Wisconsin–Platteville 1995–96 Rowan 1996–97 Illinois Wesleyan 1997–98 (3) Wisconsin–Platteville 1998–99 (4) Wisconsin–Platteville 1999–00 Calvin 2000–01 Catholic 2001–02 Otterbein 2002–03 Williams 2003–04 (2) Williams 2004–05 York (PA) 2005–06 Pensacola 2006–07 Amherst 2007–08 Washington U. 2008–09 (2) Washington U. 2009–10 Wisconsin–Stevens Point 2010–11 St. Thomas (MN) 2011–12 Wisconsin–Whitewater 2012–13 (2) Amherst 2013–14 (2) Wisconsin–Whitewater 2014–15 (2) Wisconsin–Stevens Point 2015–16 St. Thomas (MN) 2016–17 Babson 2017–18 Nebraska Wesleyan 2018–19 Wisconsin–Oshkosh 2019–20 Swarthmore 2020–21 No award 2021–22 Randolph–Macon 2022–23 Christopher Newport 2023–24 Trine 2024–25 Trinity (CT) 2025–26 St. Thomas (TX)

NAIA In 2008–09, the NABC began presenting separate awards for coaches of the year in NAIA Divisions I and II. In 2020–21, the NAIA removed its divisional classifications.

+ Non-divisional era(1993–2008; 2021–present) Season Coach Team Reference 1992–93 Midwestern State 1993–94 Georgetown (KY) 1994–95 Birmingham–Southern 1995–96 William Jewell 1996–97 Life 1997–98 Southern Nazarene 1998–99 Cornerstone 1999–00 (2) Life 2000–01 Transylvania 2001–02 McKendree 2002–03 Concordia (CA) 2003–04 Mountain State 2004–05 No award 2005–06 Texas Wesleyan 2006–07 MidAmerica Nazarene 2007–08 (3) Oklahoma City 2008–09 Split into NAIA Divisions I and II 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 (2) Lewis–Clark State 2021–22 Loyola (LA) 2022–23 2023–24 Grace 2024–25 (2) 2025–26 Freed–Hardeman + Division I(2009–2020) Season Coach Team Reference 1992–93 No award 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Union (TN) 2009–10 (2) Mountain State 2010–11 Robert Morris (IL) 2011–12 Shorter 2012–13 Columbia (MO) 2013–14 William Carey (MS) 2014–15 Campbellsville 2015–16 Biola 2016–17 LSU–Alexandria 2017–18 2018–19 Benedictine (KS) 2019–20 Lewis–Clark State 2020–21 No award 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26+ Division II(2009–2020) Season Coach Team Reference 1992–93 No award 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Oklahoma Wesleyan 2009–10 (2) Oklahoma Wesleyan 2010–11 Northwood (FL) 2011–12 Oregon Tech 2012–13 Cardinal Stritch 2013–14 Indiana Wesleyan 2014–15 (2) Cornerstone 2015–16 (2) Indiana Wesleyan 2016–17 (3) Cornerstone 2017–18 (3) Indiana Wesleyan 2018–19 Spring Arbor 2019–20 Holy Cross (IN) 2020–21 No award 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

Two-year schools

Season Winner Team Reference 1983–84 Miami Dade–North 1984–85 Kankakee 1985–86 Vincennes 1986–87 Midland (TX) 1987–88 Hutchinson 1988–89 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 1989–90 Pensacola 1990–91 Arizona Western 1991–92 1992–93 Pensacola 1993–94 Hutchinson 1994–95 Western Nebraska 1995–96 Sullivan 1996–97 Indian Hills 1997–98 (2) Indian Hills 1998–99 Barton (KS) 1999–00 Southeastern (IA) 2000–01 Wabash Valley 2001–02 Utah Tech 2002–03 (2) Southeastern (IA) 2003–04 (3) Southeastern (IA) 2004–05 Paris 2005–06 No award 2006–07 2007–08 Southeastern Illinois 2008–09 Johnson County (KS) 2009–10 Kirkwood 2010–11 Lincoln (IL) 2011–12 Sandhills 2012–13 2013–14 Phoenix 2014–15 Richard Bland 2015–16 Rock Valley 2016–17 Southwestern (IA) 2017–18 Triton 2018–19 (2) Vincennes 2019–20 (2) Sandhills 2020–21 Des Moines Area 2021–22 South Suburban 2022–23 Milwaukee Area Tech 2023–24 National Park 2024–25 Kirkwood 2025–26 Howard (TX)

See also NABC Player of the Year – the equivalent honor for men's players at all levels of college basketball competition WBCA National Coach of the Year Award – the equivalent honor for women's basketball

References

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