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Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Finalists Named
Auriemma, Blair, Goestenkors and Summitt Seek Top Coaching Honor
ATLANTA (March 14, 2007) – Four of the nation’s top women’s college basketball coaches were named as finalists for the Naismith Award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today.
Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Gary Blair (Texas A&M), Gail Goestenkors (Duke) and Pat Summitt (Tennessee) will make up the final ballot. The Naismith Award is the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men’s and women’s college basketball coaches of the year, and the winner will be named at the Naismith Awards banquet April 5 in Atlanta.
Finalists were chosen through a vote by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, who narrowed the mid-season list of 25 candidates down to the final four. The Board, which is comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, based its criteria on coaching performances this season.
“This year’s finalists are all the more impressive because of the success they have achieved over time,” said Gary Stokan, Atlanta Tipoff Club president. “To win consistently and with class is all the more impressive, and each one is deserving of the Naismith Award.”
Geno Auriemma: The Huskies (29-3, 16-0) claimed their 15th Big East championship under Auriemma and their sixth overall undefeated conference season – first since 2002-03. Connecticut earned its 19th consecutive invitation to the NCAA Championship and returns as the No. 1 seed for the 10th time overall and the first time since 2003. Connecticut was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally and has been in the top 10 all season long. With one more victory, the Huskies will hit the 30-win plateau for the 12th time. In 22 seasons, Auriemma has a 618-119 record, becoming the fastest coach to earn 600 wins, and has guided Connecticut to five national championships, including 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. He has also won the prestigious Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award four times (1995, 1997, 2000 and 2002).
Gary Blair: Blair was named Big 12 Coach of the Year while leading the Aggies to their first-ever Big 12 Conference championship crown with a program-best 13-3 conference record, and posted their first undefeated season at home in the 33-year history of the program with a 16-0 record at Reed Arena. Texas A&M (24-6) posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns for the first time since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons. They recently advanced to their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth overall in school history. The Aggies earned a program-best No. 4 seed in the Dallas Regional. Blair, a Dallas native, previously was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year five times (1988, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993) while the head coach at Stephen F. Austin (1985-93). He is one of only four coaches in NCAA history to take three different schools (SFA, Arkansas and A&M) to the NCAA Tournament including Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer, Ohio State’s Jim Foster and former great Marianne Stanley, who won three national championships at Old Dominion.
Gail Goestenkors: Now in her 15th season in Durham, she led the top-ranked Blue Devils to a 30-1 overall and 14-0 ACC mark, while claiming ACC Coach of the Year honors for the seventh time. Goestenkors guided Duke to a school-best start for wins (30-0), as the Devils became 14th team in NCAA history to go undefeated in the regular season. The mark set a new NCAA record for consecutive 30-win seasons with seven, all while replacing the top three players from a year ago. Goestenkors owns a career 76.4 ACC win percentage, which is the best all-time in ACC history, and looks to lead Duke to its fifth NCAA Final Four appearance and third title game. She is a 2003 winner of the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award.
Pat Summitt: For the seventh time in her career, Summitt was named SEC Coach of the Year. In her 33rd season as Lady Vols head coach, Summitt has amassed 940 wins – more than any other Division I coach in the history of men's or women's college basketball. She also has six NCAA titles, seven NCAA Coach of the Year Awards, 16 NCAA Final Four appearances on her resume and has coached 19 Kodak All-Americans during her tenure in Knoxville. Summitt won the inaugural Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award in 1987 then went on to claim four more honors (1989, 1994, 1998 and 2004) – the most among all women’s college coaches.
Contact:
Eric Oberman
Atlanta Tipoff Club
(404) 586-8506
eoberman@macoc.com
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