March Madness has arrived as the 2025-26 high school basketball season enters its final weeks with coaches fine-tuning game plans in hopes of capturing a state championship.
Past winners include Bob Hurley in 2011, Gary McKnight in 2013, Sam Duane Jr in 2015, Kevin Boyle in 2018 and David Peavy in 2021. See the complete list dating back to 2010 at the bottom of the page.
Read on for a look at the MaxPreps National Coach of the Year finalists. Coaches are listed in alphabetical order.
Jay Blossom, Principia (St. Louis, Mo.)Resume: Blossom is no stranger to putting Missouri teams on the map nationally as he led Webster Groves to the No. 13 spot in the final MaxPreps Top 25 in 2017. In his fourth year at Principia, he has taken the Panthers from unranked to begin the season to No. 4 in the national rankings.
Resume: Following a successful stint at Montverde Academy that saw him claim seven national titles from 2013 through 2024, Boyle has taken the reigns at SPIRE Academy and immediately turned the program into a national powerhouse with a 26-3 record in his first year.
Resume: Concluded a decorated career with the third-highest win total of all-time, a record of 1,293-452 and 16 overall state championships. In his final season, Duease led Madison-Ridgeland Academy to a record of 36-2, which was a vast improvement from a 17-13 finish a year ago.
Resume: Paul VI sits at No. 1 in the MaxPreps Top 25 and is in position to finish the season on top of the national rankings for the second time in the past three seasons. The Panthers are also locked into their fifth consecutive top 10 finish after going 13-1 against top 100 teams.
Resume: Johnson put together one of the best teams in his legendary career as the Bengals finished the season with a record of 36-2 and are currently ranked in the top 10 nationally. The longtime coach claimed the 14th state championship of his career and seventh in the past 12 seasons. His career record sits at 1,257-335.
Resume: Archbishop Stepinac became the first team in the nearly 100-year history of the CHSAA to capture four consecutive Class AA titles, winning each of its postseason games by double digits. Massaroni looks to guide the Crusaders to their fourth finish in the MaxPreps Top 25 in the past five seasons.
Resume: McSweeney has led his Eagles to the No. 2 spot in the MaxPreps Top 25 with their lone loss coming against top-ranked Paul VI at the City of Palms Classic back in December. Calvary Christian Academy looks to close out a run to its second straight Class 3A state title tonight.
Resume: After knocking on the door by reaching the Open Division state championship game in two of the past three seasons, Portela was able to lead his group to glory this season. The Vikings knocked off St. Mary's (Phoenix) 60-51 in the title game behind a strong effort from the coach's son, Colorado signee
Rider Portela, who tallied 16 points and 17 rebounds.
Resume: After starting his Montverde Academy career with three consecutive losses to begin the season, Turner flipped the script and went on to win the Nike EYBL Scholastic East Division in his first year at the helm of the national powerhouse. He also has the program in line for its 15th Chipotle Nationals appearance.
Resume: In the midst of a potential third consecutive state championship run, Walz has guided his program into the top 10 of the MaxPreps Top 25 with an unbeaten record for the second time in the past three seasons. His son,
Riley Walz is a junior guard who starts for the program that has a record of 88-2 over the past three seasons.
Past MaxPreps National Coaches of the Year
2010 — Ed Azzam, Westchester (Los Angeles)
2011 — Bob Hurley, St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)
2012 — Danny Henderson, Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas)
2013 — Quincy Lewis, Lone Peak (Highland, Utah)
2014 — Gary McKnight, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
2015 — Sam Duane Jr., Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.)
2016 — Pat Donnelly, University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit)
2017 — Wes Swift, Jonesboro (Ark.)
2018 — Kevin Boyle, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
2019 — Mike Thompson, McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.)
2020 — No award (Pandemic)
2021 — David Peavy, Duncanville (Texas)
2022 — Josh Giles, Centennial (Centennial, Calif.)
2023 — Ty White, John Marshall (Richmond, Va.)
2024 — Matt Wester, Plano East (Plano, Texas)
2025 — Stephen Singleton, Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.)
