Latest news with #NaismithCoachoftheYear
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rick Barnes, Tennessee Receive Big News on Saturday
Rick Barnes has been a staple in college basketball for more than 40 years. His journey began in 1977-78 at North State Academy and has led him to his current role at the University of Tennessee. Over the decades, Barnes has tallied 836 career wins, including 232 during his time with the Volunteers. Tennessee is coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, with a current streak of three straight trips to the Sweet 16. Advertisement One of the key constants in Barnes' career has been surrounding himself with strong assistant coaches. That trend continues heading into the 2025-26 season as Barnes is reportedly set to make a significant addition to his staff. Joe Tipton of On3 Sports reported the news on Saturday: Steve McClain is expected to join Rick Barnes' staff as an assistant coach at Tennessee, source tells @On3sports. McClain is coming to Knoxville from his role as an assistant at the University of Texas. Before that, he served on the coaching staff at Georgia and has a wealth of experience that includes head coaching stops. Advertisement He began his head coaching career in 1991-92 at Hutchinson Community College, where he compiled a stellar 91-16 record. He then spent nine seasons at Wyoming, where he notched 157 wins and helped guide the Cowboys through their transition into the Mountain West Conference. His tenure at Wyoming ended after the 2006-07 season. McClain later served as head coach at UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) in the Horizon League. He finished with a 76-93 record, with his final season coming in 2019-20. Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Goddin-Imagn Images As for Barnes, his coaching resume is loaded with accomplishments. He led Texas to the Final Four in 2003 and captured three Big 12 regular-season titles during his time in Austin. Advertisement Since taking over at Tennessee, Barnes has won the SEC regular season twice, in 2018 and 2024, and the SEC Tournament in 2022. He was named Naismith Coach of the Year in 2019 and earned the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in 2009. His all-time NCAA Tournament record stands at 33-28. With McClain's addition, Tennessee fans have another reason to be optimistic about the upcoming season. Related: Kentucky Guard Makes Life-Changing Announcement After Freshman Season Related: Kentucky's Mark Pope Sends Clear Message on 7-Foot-1 Transfer
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dawn Staley Spotted at Basketball Tournament After South Carolina's Season
Dawn Staley, a four-time Naismith Coach of the Year, has consistently guided South Carolina to dominance in women's college basketball. As a player, she was a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a six-time WNBA All-Star, earning a spot in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Advertisement As one of the legends in college basketball, she's never been one to take breaks. A video circulating on social media on Friday confirms such, with Staley front and center at the Power 24/Select 40 Circuit event at Spooky Nook Sports in Manheim, Pennsylvania. In the clip, posted by Select Events Basketball on X, Staley can be seen talking with other coaches and scouts and carefully studying each of the nation's top prospects. Select Events Basketball's premier spring circuit drew in hundreds of teams and college coaches to scout the next wave of elite high-school talent in the girls' game. The Power 24/Select 40 Circuit started Friday and runs through July 21, featuring several nationally ranked recruits between grades 9 and 12. Dawn Staley talks with the media the day before her NCAA Tournament game.© Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images Staley and South Carolina are coming off a runner-up finish to UConn on April 6. Advertisement Despite finishing the season No. 2 in the AP Top 25 with a record of 35-4, the Gamecocks now face the challenge of replacing key departures. This includes players MiLaysia Fulwiley, Te-Hina PaoPao and Sania Feagin, three of the team's leading scorers from last season. Staley being present at such an event bodes well for the program's summer recruiting haul and sets the stage for continued dominance in the SEC and beyond. Related: Former Iowa Star Gabbie Marshall Sends Two-Word Message to Caitlin Clark Related: Former UConn Star Paige Bueckers Leaves Fans in Tears Over New Post
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NCAA Sends Strong Message on Geno Auriemma After National Championship
When UConn closed the 2024-25 campaign at 37-2 and captured its 12th NCAA women's basketball crown with an 82-59 dismantling of South Carolina, it reaffirmed a dynasty built over four decades. On Wednesday, the NCAA March Madness X account shifted its focus from the hardwood to something more tangible: the gleaming collection of rings that symbolize Geno Auriemma's sustained supremacy. Advertisement In a brief video, Auriemma surveys a table laden with championship rings and deadpans, "How am I going to get all of these on? Sheesh, these hurt... After a while, you run out of shapes, you run out of styles. It's a good problem to have, right?" The clip is a playful yet pointed reminder that no coach in women's basketball has amassed hardware like Auriemma. Since 1985, Auriemma has won 12 national titles, 24 Final Fours, 23 conference tournament crowns, and has put together six perfect seasons. Over four decades, he has an all-time career mark of 1,250-165 (.883), has won eight Naismith Coach of the Year awards and nine AP Coach of the Year awards. Advertisement He's also helped to develop some of the game's brightest stars, including icons like Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart and the WNBA 2025 No. 1 overall pick, Paige Bueckers. UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma.© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Burying the trumpets, the NCAA instead let the rings do the talking, underscoring that the UConn standard remains the summit all programs chase. And as he grapples with the good 'problem' of too many rings, the rest of the sport is left grappling with how to catch up. Related: Former UConn Star Paige Bueckers Leaves Fans in Tears Over New Post Related: South Carolina Sends Message on Dawn Staley's Transfer Portal Addition
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Final Four: Why this 'uncommon' UCLA team has worked out (and dominated) this college basketball season
Final Four: Why this 'uncommon' UCLA team has worked out (and dominated) this college basketball season TAMPA — One by one, they filed off the bus up the walkway. Their police escort encased them as they packed in for a player-only team photo framed by their brightly colored 'UCLA and 'Final Four' wrapped transportation. Inside the Embarc Collective near the burgeoning Water Street district of downtown Tampa, the blue and gold crew took up most of the room on Wednesday afternoon. At every utterance of those four letters, the team built into a crescendo of cheers, booming the loudest when its own player and coach won two of the three Naismith women's Honors on Wednesday afternoon. Advertisement There was Naismith Coach of the Year winner Cori Close, the self-described 'uncommon coach' who praised her group of 'uncommon women willing to make uncommon choices and eventually yielding an uncommon result.' Then Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts, also a finalist for player of the year who credited teammates for boosting her confidence to perform at her career best. And collectively, the Bruins, the No. 1 overall seed bubbling under the surface of attention bestowed on giants South Carolina and Connecticut, the national title clash many surmised when the bracket came out on Selection Sunday. 'We are expectant,' Close said on Thursday at Amalie Arena. 'This is not a surprise for us to be here. We expected and believed that we would be in Tampa.' Lauren Betts and the UCLA Bruins are the closest they've ever been to a college basketball title. () (Steph Chambers via Getty Images) The 'uncommon' claim dates back to Close's first season at UCLA in 2011-12 and has her 14th UCLA roster in the uncommon position of an NCAA Final Four. The Bruins reached the Elite Eight twice, including Close's 2018 squad, but never reached the final weekend in the NCAA era. The school won the AIAW national title in 1978. Advertisement 'What else is uncommon of this group … I've never had a roster this star-studded,' Close said. 'And it's uncommon to have this many stars be willing to give up individual things for a more powerful collective thing.' The 'top to bottom' level this group works at is also the most uncommon of Close's tenure, she said. And it starts with junior point guard Kiki Rice, who later on Wednesday was named the NCAA Elite 90 award winner for highest cumulative GPA of any player at the 2025 Final Four. 'She has set the cultural standard of work that is contagious and pervasive,' Close said. 'She deserves so much credit in that.' Rice always led that standard by example. But when UCLA lost to rival USC at home a month ago, her approach had to change. The day after the 'embarrassment' of being "punked in our own gym in front of 15,000 fans,' Rice said she, junior Gabriela Jaquez and graduate student Charlisse Leger-Walker held a players-only meeting before their 7 a.m. practice. They all felt as though Close and the coaches prepared them with the right tools, Rice said, but they couldn't get it done. It was their second loss to USC; the first two weeks prior snapped the Bruins' 23-game undefeated start. With at-best four weeks left in the season, the players spoke of how they could make the best of it. Advertisement 'Our shift from that moment, to from our coach-led team to a player-led team that happened after was probably the biggest thing that we needed to then go on to win the conference championship and to be where we are right now,' Rice said. UCLA (34-2) steamrolled through the Big Ten tournament to set up a third meeting with USC and this time delivered with a title in its inaugural season in the conference. They've taken care of business in the NCAA tournament, averaging a 19-point winning margin knocking out No. 16 Southern, No. 8 Richmond, No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 3 LSU. Though their seven-point Elite Eight margin against the Tigers was their closest, it was also their most impressive. The rest of the roster stood up around Rice when Betts, their 6-foot-7 leading scorer, sat the bench with foul trouble most of the game. 'I'm really proud of [Rice] because I know it's not easy at times to hold people accountable and be the mean one, but at this point, it's taken us so far,' Betts said. The quiet seven points on 50% shooting by Betts ended her back-to-back 30-point double-double streak. Rice said she noticed a different confidence about Betts in the preseason that blossomed into the POY finalist honor. Advertisement 'I think I've even seen another step in that [confidence] over the past few weeks towards the end of the season,' Rice said. UCLA's Final Four opponent is not uncommon or unfamiliar to the setting. UConn is an 11-time national champion making its 24th Final Four appearance, and its fourth led by former national player of the year Paige Bueckers. She's chasing her lone national title before entering the WNBA, and the program's first since winning four consecutive from 2013-16. The season prior to that streak, Close sat on the outside looking in when her first UCLA roster missed the NCAA tournament field. She knew she didn't want to be like everyone else in the field, and so she did the uncommon and asked championship coaches Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame and Auriemma if she could come watch their postseason practices. Advertisement The first round, she watched how Notre Dame prepped. In a full-circle moment, she accepted her Naismith award on Wednesday in front of McGraw, who was honored with the outstanding contributor award by the Atlanta Tip-Off club. The second round, she went to Connecticut and spent four 'tremendous' days watching how the Huskies practiced and prepared. The following October, she brought her entire staff to watch a coach she calls a 'master teacher.' They'll meet on Friday with a historic national title-game berth on the line.
USA Today
24-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Auburn's Bruce Pearl named finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year award
Auburn's Bruce Pearl named finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year award Auburn's head man has taken the program to new heights this season. Bruce Pearl is ready to lead Auburn to its first NCAA Tournament national championship. However, he could end the season by hoisting more than one trophy. Auburn's head man was recently named a finalist for the Naismith Men's Coach of the Year due to leading the program to new heights this season. He joins Duke's Jon Scheyer, St. John's Rick Pitino, and Houston's Kelvin Sampson on the shortlist for the prestigious award. Pearl led the Tigers to its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament this season, its first-ever as the No. 1 overall seed. Pearl also set new records this season. He has led Auburn to six NCAA Tournament appearances since taking the job ahead of the 2014-15 season, the most by any Auburn head coach. He also became Auburn's all-time winningest head coach this season by winning his 214th game as the Tigers head coach in the Jan. 7 win at Texas this season to pass Joel Eaves on the all-time wins list. Pearl joins Scheyer and Sampson as head coaches remaining in the NCAA Tournament. Auburn advanced to the Sweet 16 by defeating Creighton on Saturday, 82-70 behind strong performances from Chad Baker-Mazara and Tahaad Pettiford. The Tigers will meet Michigan on Friday in the Tigers' second Sweet 16 appearance under Pearl. The winner of the Naismith Coach of the Year will be announced on Sunday, April 6. Fans can begin voting for Pearl on Tuesday, March 25, where fan voting will account for 5% of the total votes.
