Tony Shaver named NABC District Coach of the Year
The postseason honors
continued to roll in for William and Mary men’s basketball head coach
Tony Shaver as he was named the National Association of Basketball
Coaches (NABC) Division I District 10 Coach of the Year, the
organization announced on Friday. Shaver was also selected by Sports
News as the CAA Coach of the Year on Friday. Earlier this season,
he garnered CAA Coach of the Year honors by vote of the league coaches,
media and sports information directors and was selected as one of 15
finalists for the CollegeInsiders.com Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the
Year as well.
Shaver has led the Tribe to a 22-10 record and the school’s second appearance in the CAA Championship Game in the last three seasons. The Tribe is also on the brink of just the second postseason bid in the program’s 105-year history. The 22 wins are the most for the College since 1949-50 and the third most ever at the second oldest institution in the U.S. W&M established a school-record mark of 10 road victories and became the first CAA school and only the sixth mid-major program to win two ACC road games in the same season as W&M knocked off Maryland and Wake Forest. The College was the only team this season to win at ACC regular season champion Maryland and the first team ever to beat Wake Forest at Joel Coliseum during the month of November.
Shaver led the Tribe to the second most CAA wins (12) in school history and the program's first bye in the league tournament as the No. 3 seed since the expansion of the league in 2002. The College jumped out to the best start in school history at 14-3, while also tying the school-record winning streak of 10, which was 80 years old (1929-30). The Tribe earned votes in both major national polls for the first time since the 1977-78 season as well. W&M was at its best in close games, owning a record of 12-4 in games decided by five points or less, including a stellar 5-1 ledger in one-point contests.
Located in Kansas City, Mo., the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently claims nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.com.
Shaver and the Tribe will await their fate in the postseason on Selection Sunday, March 14. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air at 6 p.m. on CBS, while the NIT Selection Show will air on ESPNU at 9 p.m.
