The Big West Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year is an annual college basketball award given to head coaches in the Big West Conference.
The award was first given at the end of the 1983–84 season, when the conference was known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), to husband and wife co-coaches Sheila Strike and Jim Bolla of UNLV. The programs with the most awards are Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara with 8, with Mark French's conference-leading 7 awards and Laura Beeman garnering the award in 2025. Jennifer Gross is the only head coach to win five consecutive coach of the year honors, her most recent being after the 2020–21 season.
Winners SeasonCoachSchoolSource(s) 1983–84 Sheila Strike-Bolla Jim Bolla UNLV 1984–85 Sheila Strike-Bolla (2) Jim Bolla (2) UNLV (2) 1985–86 Joan Bonvicini Long Beach State 1986–87 Bill Nepfel Hawaii 1987–88 Maryalyce Jeremiah Cal State Fullerton 1988–89 Vince Goo Hawaii (2) 1989–90 Jim Bolla (3) UNLV (3) 1990–91 Maryalyce Jeremiah (2) Cal State Fullerton (2) 1991–92 Mark French UC Santa Barbara 1992–93 Vince Goo (2) Hawaii (3) 1993–94 Vince Goo (3) Hawaii (4) 1994–95 Colleen Matsuhara UC Irvine 1995–96 Mark French (2) UC Santa Barbara (2) 1996–97 Mark French (3) UC Santa Barbara (3) 1997–98 Mark French (4) UC Santa Barbara (4) 1998–99 Tina Slinker North Texas1999–2000 Mark French (5) UC Santa Barbara (5) Faith Mimnaugh Cal Poly 2000–01 Mark French (6) UC Santa Barbara (6) 2001–02 Jennifer Young UC Riverside 2002–03 Mark French (7) UC Santa Barbara (7) 2003–04 Mike Divilbiss Idaho 2004–05 Tammy Holder Cal State Northridge 2005–06 Mary Hegarty Long Beach State (2) 2006–07 John Margaritis UC Riverside (2) 2007–08 Sandy Simpson UC Davis 2008–09 Lindsay Gottlieb UC Santa Barbara (8) 2009–10 Sandy Simpson (2) UC Davis (2) 2010–11 Faith Mimnaugh (2) Cal Poly (2) 2011–12 Jason Flowers Cal State Northridge (2) 2012–13 Lynne Roberts Pacific 2013–14 Jason Flowers (2) Cal State Northridge (3) 2014–15 Laura Beeman Hawaii (5) 2015–16 John Margaritis (2) UC Riverside (3) 2016–17 Jennifer Gross UC Davis (3) 2017–18 Jennifer Gross (2) UC Davis (4) 2018–19 Jennifer Gross (3) UC Davis (5) 2019–20 Jennifer Gross (4) UC Davis (6) 2020–21 Jennifer Gross (5) UC Davis (7) Tamara Inoue UC Irvine (2) 2021–22 Laura Beeman (2) Hawaii (6) 2022–23 Jeff Cammon Long Beach State (3) 2023–24 Laura Beeman (3) Hawaii (7) 2024–25 Laura Beeman (4) Hawaii (8) 2025–26 Tamara Inoue (2) UC Irvine (3)
Winners by school School Winners Years UC Santa Barbara 8 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2009 Hawaii 8 1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 2015, 2022, 2024, 2025 UC Davis 7 2008, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 Cal State Northridge 3 2005, 2012, 2014 Long Beach State 3 1986, 2006, 2023 UC Irvine 3 1995, 2021, 2026 UC Riverside 3 2002, 2007, 2016 UNLV 3 1984, 1985, 1990 Cal State Fullerton 2 1988, 1991 Cal Poly 2 2000, 2011 Idaho 1 2005 North Texas 1 1999 Pacific 1 2013
Among current Big West members, Bakersfield and UC San Diego have yet to have an honored coach. Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Diego State, San Jose State, and Utah State never had an honored coach during their Big West tenures. Another former member, Cal State Los Angeles, left what was then known as the PCAA before the conference sponsored women's sports.
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