Throughout the 2024-25 Horizon League Basketball season, there has been a clear frontrunner for the Coach of the Year Award. Daniyal Robinson has led Cleveland State to a 12-3 record in league play, including an 11-game HL win streak that has placed them in first place in the standings for over a month.
Safe to say Bob is back.
— Andrew Chiappazzi 🦋 @achiappazzi.bsky.social (@achiappazzi_) February 13, 2025
Also, Andy Toole is locking up Horizon Coach of the Year. Projected middle of the pack at best and they look like a legit threat to win the title. https://t.co/ybTmluRYIU
Entering the season, Cleveland State was picked to finish 7th in the Horizon League. So, with them up two games on everyone else, it’s still fair to say that Coach Robinson should still earn the prize in a couple of weeks. However, another coach made a big case to win Coach of the Year now.
HORIZON LEAGUE STUNNER: Robert Morris goes to Cleveland State and wins by nine. First time in conference play that the Vikings have lost at home. Big win for Andy Toole.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 13, 2025
It’s been a rough few years for Coach Andy Toole and Robert Morris since leading the Northeast Conference for the Horizon League. Outside of one year, they’ve finished in the bottom tier of the standings. That was the expectation for them this season, projected to finish 9th out of 11 teams. And that was before Justice Williams, the team’s returning leading scorer (12 ppg), was ruled out for the season and hasn’t played at all.
Up 157 spots, #165 Robert Morris (17-8) now has the largest positive deviation from their Haslametrics preseason baseline ranking in all of D-1 college hoops. They've also won seven of eight and have outperformed their average season performance in seven straight contests. pic.twitter.com/oJwsHlA4HI
— Erik Haslam (@haslametrics) February 6, 2025
After a 2-4 start to league play, the Colonials have gone on a remarkable run. They’ve now won 9 of the last 10 games, including getting its first league win over Cleveland State on the road on Wednesday. They’ve won 11 games, which is already the most in program history in this conference, with four games to go.
And barring an epic collapse, Robert Morris will have its highest finish in the Horizon League and its best chance to win the conference tournament and get back to the postseason for the first time since 2015, though they did get the autobid in 2020 before Covid shut the Big Dance down that year.
If Coach Robinson wins the award, it’s well deserved, considering their dominance in league play this season. However, considering the preseason expectations, no one thought that Robert Morris would be even close to this position right now. Toole deserves to be in strong consideration for Horizon League Coach of the Year, especially if they find a way to win out and finish in the top two of the standings.