MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg men's basketball head coach Don Friday has been named the HoopDirt.com NCAA Division III Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions.  

The national recognition comes after Friday led the Lions (16-1, 9-0 United East) to a pair of road victories over conference foes Wells and SUNY Morrisville in less than 24 hours on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Friday's squad is off to the best start in program history and is currently riding a program-record 13-game win streak. The Blue & White received votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll earlier this season and currently sit atop the United East standings.  

Through 17 games, Friday's team ranks top-10 in the nation in assists per game (20.5), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49), blocks per game (5.2), scoring margin (18.8), and steals per game (11.7).  

The Lions return to action when they travel to St. Mary's (Md.) for a key conference contest on Tuesday night, Feb. 1. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. 

Friday was joined by Auburn's Bruce Pearl (NCAA Division I), Fort Lewis' Bob Pietrack (NCAA Division II), LSU Shreveport's Kyle Blankenship (NAIA), and Lakeland's Mike Hunter (JUCO) as the organization's week 12 national coaches of the week.  

Coaches who earn the weekly award during the season are eligible for the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award presented by Just Play Solutions. This is the seventh season that HoopDirt.com has run the Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs.