Atlanta Tipoff Club Announces Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Finalists
Alford, Boeheim, Calipari and Martin Seek Prestigious Award

ATLANTA (March 18, 2010) – The University of Kentucky’s John Calipari, one of only two multiple Naismith winners, is among four finalists for the 2010 Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today.  He is joined by three would-be first-time Naismith honorees in Steve Alford (New Mexico), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and Frank Martin (Kansas State).  Those four make up the final ballot for the most prestigious national award presented annually to the top men’s college basketball coach.  The winner will be announced in early April.

The finalists were voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s National Voting Academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The academy based its criteria on coaching performances this season. The vote was tabulated and certified by the accounting firm of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP.  HA&W is the largest independent accounting firm in Georgia and one of the top 50 firms in the United States.

ABOUT THE FINALISTS: 

Steve Alford:  The University of New Mexico was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference in the league's preseason poll, but the Lobos went on to a 29-4 season and won their second-straight MWC regular season title.  Alford is 75-25 in his third season.  New Mexico's ranking of eighth in the Associated Press poll and 10th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll is the school's highest ranking since December 1997.  The Lobos set a school record for wins in a season with 29, and UNM set school records with 10 road wins and 12 wins away from Albuquerque. New Mexico set MWC records with 14 consecutive conference wins and seven road wins. New Mexico is a number-three seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Jim Boeheim: The Orange set a school record for regular season victories, racking up a 28-3 record.  The Big East pre-season poll had Syracuse University picked sixth, yet the Orange went 15-3 in conference play to win its first outright regular season title since 1991.  Boeheim is the only coach in the Big East to have been with his school since the league’s inaugural season (1979-80), and he claimed his fourth conference Coach of the Year award (1984, 1991 and 2000).  Syracuse earned a number-one seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament.

John Calipari:  The first-year Kentucky coach led his squad to 32-2 regular season record (14-2 in conference), and the Southeastern Conference tournament championship – the school’s first since 2004.  He has now captured five consecutive conference tournament championships and regular season titles as a head coach.  He also won 30 games for the fifth straight year, the only coach in NCAA Division I history to do so. Calipari won the Naismith award most recently at Memphis (2008) and also at Massachusetts (1996).  Only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke has won more (1999, 1992, 1989).  The resurgent Wildcats earned the number-one seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Frank Martin: After guiding Kansas State University to its best regular season in more than 50 years, Martin enters the postseason with a number two seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Named the Big 12 Coach of the Year, Martin has guided K-State to a school record 26 victories, a tie for second place in the Big 12 and an appearance in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship game.  The Wildcats earned their first top five ranking in nearly 50 years on March 1 when they rose to number five in each poll.  Martin now has the most wins by a head coach in his first three seasons, and became the first Kansas State head coach to have three 20-win seasons to start a career. 

Last year, the University of Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon claimed the Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year award, the second such honor for a Panthers head coach (Ben Howland, 2002) and third from the Big East (Jay Wright, Villanova, 2006). 

For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com.

ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB
The Atlanta Tipoff Club, an Atlanta Sports Council property, is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club, founded during the 1956-57 season, has presented the Naismith Trophy every year since UCLA’s Lew Alcindor first won the award in 1969.  Old Dominion’s Anne Donovan won the inaugural Women’s Naismith Trophy in 1983.

The Naismith Award has become the most prestigious award in all of college basketball, recognizing the Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year, Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Coach of the Year, as well as awards for outstanding achievement in high school basketball, officiating, and contribution to the game.