Hope’s Morehouse takes home back-to-back Division III coach of the year honors
HOLLAND, Mich. (BVM) — It’s been nearly 800 days since the Hope College women’s basketball team has lost a game. After going 16-0 this past season, the Flying Dutch have now won 45 consecutive games — the eighth-best mark all-time in NCAA Division III women’s basketball history.
The leader of the Flying Dutch is long-time coach Brian Morehouse, who was named United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year for the second straight season this week.
And the celebrations keep on coming! Congrats to our leader, @CoachMorehouse, for winning @WBCA1981 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year! We’re so lucky to be led by you! Go Hope! pic.twitter.com/WLylXDEObw
— Hope College WBB (@HopeCollegeWBB) April 28, 2021
It is the third time in Morehouse’s career that he has received what is now called the Pat Summitt Trophy, also winning the honor back in 2006 when Hope won its second national title.
Morehouse has been the head coach at Hope for the past 25 years, compiling an impressive 627-90 record. But as we have entered a new decade, Morehouse is doing some of his best work with the Flying Dutch.
Going 16-0 this season, the Flying Dutch repeated as regular season and tournament champions of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). It was the 19th regular season title and 16th tournament championship in program history.
Perhaps the only downside of the run that Hope has had over the past two seasons is not having a chance to compete for a national championship. Last year, the team’s 29-0 season ended prior to the sectional round as the NCAA Division III tournament was canceled with the Flying Dutch sitting as the No.1-ranked team.
This season, no NCAA tournament was scheduled at the DIII level with the pandemic continuing to linger. Still, Hope had a fantastic conference season, helping Morehouse to also earn D3hoops Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year honors.
It’s been a tremendous few seasons for the Hope women’s basketball program, and Morehouse will look to help extend his team’s winning streak next season while hopefully having the chance to compete for a national championship once again.
