HOPEWELL, N.J. – North Dakota State women's basketball head coach Jory Collins has been named a finalist for the 2026 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats, the organization announced on Thursday morning.

Collins is one of five finalists named to the list and joins Aaron Johnston from South Dakota State as the only Summit League coaches to earn the honors.

Collins has guided NDSU to its third straight 20-win season with a 28-4 overall record, which is the most wins in the NDSU Division I era. He also helped the Bison win their first-ever Summit League regular season title after assembling a 15-1 overall record in league play, which was the most Summit League wins in program history. Additionally, the Bison went 12-0 in true road games this season and their 12 wins tied UConn in the regular season for the most in the nation.

NDSU also assembled a 23-game win streak this season, which was the longest in Summit League history and longest for the Bison since the 2004-05 season. The Bison ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll for the first time in program history as well as receiving votes in both the AP Top 25 Poll and USA Today Top 25 Poll this season.

The full release can be viewed here.
 
Finalists in alphabetical order by school:
Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield
Jory Collins, North Dakota St.
Carla Berube, Princeton
Tammi Reiss, Rhode Island
Aaron Johnston, South Dakota St.

Award Eligibility & Schedule
To be eligible for the award, coaches must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be "mid-major." The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, and SEC. Additionally, Oregon State and Washington State remain ineligible this season as membership in the Pac-12 Conference evolves. Interim head coaches are eligible, though total games coached were taken into consideration.
 
The 20-person preseason watch list was announced in October. The winner will be announced on April 2. Coaches will be assessed across the entire season, including postseason play. Beyond on-court success, other factors such as recruiting, preseason expectations, injuries, and tactical coaching will also be weighed when assessing each candidate. Inclusion on previous watch lists is not a requirement to be considered for future watch lists.