Hope College women's basketball coach Brian Morehouse has been honored as the district coach of the year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
Hope College women's basketball coach Brian Morehouse has been honored as the district coach of the year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
In his fifth season at the helm of the Flying Dutch, Morehouse guided the team to the championship of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs and a school-record 21-game winning streak.
The Russell Athletic/WBCA coach of the year program culminates with the selection of a national coach of the year. The district and national honorees will be recognized at the organization's national convention in conjunction with the women's Division I Final Four in St. Louis on March 28.
The district honoring Morehouse represents NCAA Division III teams in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Morehouse has been a part of the Hope basketball program since his undergraduate days, first as a student assistant in the men's program and then as men's junior varsity coach. He became the head women's basketball coach in 1996.
He served as a member of the college's admissions staff from 1991-98 and for the last three years has been director of the college's Dow Physical Education and Health Center.
His Flying Dutch teams have compiled a 97-38 (72%) record, winning MIAA championships in 2000 and 2001 and gaining appearances in the Division III playoffs in 1998, 1999 and 2001.
This year's team compiled a school-record 25 victories and was undefeated in MIAA games (14-0). In January Morehouse was honored as the Division III national coach of the month by the publication DIII News.
This season he had the unique opportunity of coaching with his father Dean who served as a volunteer assistant coach after a long distinguished basketball coaching career at Fremont High School.
Morehouse and his wife Elizabeth (Liz) are the parents of an infant daughter Megan.