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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Curt Miller has earned Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 Coach-of-the-Year honors for the 4th time in 7 seasons
Curt Miller Named Russell Athletic/WBCA Regional Coach of the Year
March 22, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Falcon coaching legend earns the honor for the fourth time in the last seven seasons
Bowling Green State University women's basketball coach Curt Miller has been named the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year, the WBCA office announced Thursday (March 22). Miller, who earns the regional honor for the fourth time in the last seven years, is now a finalist for the WBCA National Coach-of-the-Year award.
Miller is part of a veritable coaching Who's Who, as the other NCAA Division I regional winners and national C-O-Y finalists include Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame - Region 1), Brenda Frese (Maryland - Region 2), Tom Collen (Arkansas - Region 3), Kim Mulkey (Baylor - Region 5), Coquese Washington (Penn State - Region 6), Reagan Pebley (Utah State - Region 7) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford - Region 8).
The 2012 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year will be announced during the second annual WBCA Awards Show on Monday, April 2, in Denver. The event is part of the WBCA National Convention and is held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four.
"The WBCA congratulates these eight coaches on being named finalists for this year's Division I Coach of the Year award," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "Each coach was selected by their peers and is deserving of this honor for their terrific seasons. On behalf of the WBCA and its members, I wish all eight of these finalists the best of luck at the WBCA Awards Show in Denver."
Miller, a native of Girard, Pa., has an overall record of 258-92 in 11 seasons at the BGSU helm. He has posted a 135-41 Mid-American Conference record during that time.
This season, Miller performed one of his finest coaching jobs in his decade-plus in Northwest Ohio. After losing six seniors and nearly 5,500 points from last year's team, the Falcons proceeded to win a MAC divisional title for the eighth consecutive season, and BG captured the league's overall regular-season crown for the seventh time in those eight years.
The Falcons had only one player on the roster who had ever started a game prior to the 2011-12 season opener, and BG's roster featured nine freshmen or sophomores. But, Miller and his staff – associate head coach Jennifer Roos, assistant coaches Brandi Poole and Kevin Eckert and director of operations Monique Rosati – guided that youthful group to a 24-7 overall record and a 14-2 MAC mark.
The Brown and Orange earned the MAC's automatic bid to the WNIT, marking the eighth consecutive season that Miller's team's have advanced to national postseason play.
For his efforts, Miller was named the MAC Coach of the Year for a league-record sixth time. He earned that honor in five-straight seasons from 2005-09. Miller also earned the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 C-O-Y honor in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
Several of the other coaches honored have a connection to Miller and/or BGSU. Collen, a BGSU alum, was the head coach at Colorado State when Miller was associate head coach there. Collen and Miller helped the Rams to a combined 81-20 mark during their three years together, including a 33-3 record and an NCAA 'Sweet Sixteen' appearance by the 1998-99 team.
Pebley, the former Raegan Scott, was on the CSU staff with Collen and Miller during Miller's final two seasons in Fort Collins. The Rams went 48-17 during those two years.
Earlier this week, Mulkey was in Bowling Green, as top-ranked Baylor defeated UC Santa Barbara and Florida in the 2012 NCAA Championships First and Second Rounds at the Stroh Center. With those two wins, Mulkey is the second-winningest women's basketball coach in Stroh Center history, behind Miller (14 home wins this season).
Miller and the Falcons won at least 20 games for the ninth consecutive season, extending the school and MAC records. In those nine years, the Falcons are 237-57 (80.6%) overall and 124-20 (86.1%) in MAC regular-season play.
As mentioned, Miller is in good company on the regional coach-of-the-year list. McGraw has led her Notre Dame Fighting Irish (32-3) to the Sweet Sixteen following a record-setting regular season. The veteran head coach – in her 25th year with the program – guided her team to a Big East Conference regular season title and runner-up finish in the conference tournament. McGraw is also a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year.
Frese, in her 10th season as head coach at Maryland, is taking her squad to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in her career. Her ninth consecutive 20-win team boasts a 30-4 record and an ACC Championship title. This season, Frese collected her 300th career victory.
Collen's Arkansas Razorbacks posted a program-best SEC regular-season record (10-6) and tied for fourth place in the conference standings. Adding to their list of “firsts,” Collen's team landed an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time during his six-year tenure as head coach of the team.
Mulkey, in her 12th year as head coach of the Baylor Lady Bears, has guided her team to a perfect 36-0 record, Big 12 championship and Sweet Sixteen berth. The Big 12 Coach of the Year's squad earned a No. 1-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Mulkey is also a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award.
Washington's Penn State Lady Lions earned a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Tournament and regular-season title, while she nabbed the conference's Coach of the Year honor. She led her squad to its second-straight NCAA tournament appearance where they have advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time in her five years with the program and first time since 2004.
Pebley guided her Utah State Aggies to a school-record 21-10 record, marking the first time the program has surpassed the 20-win benchmark. The ninth-year head coach took her team to the WNIT for the second consecutive year, following a semifinals appearance in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
VanDerveer – a finalist for the 2012 Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award – and her Stanford Cardinal boast a 33-1 overall record and spot in the Fresno Regional Semifinals. The 33-year veteran head coach has taken her team to 25 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. After winning the Pac-12 regular season and conference tournament titles, VanDerveer was honored as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Russell Athletic and the WBCA present the national coach of the year award annually in each of the five WBCA membership divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II and III; NAIA; junior/community college and high school). This is the 30th year of this honor, which has been selected by the WBCA since 1983.
(Portions of this release are courtesy of the WBCA office)
Miller is part of a veritable coaching Who's Who, as the other NCAA Division I regional winners and national C-O-Y finalists include Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame - Region 1), Brenda Frese (Maryland - Region 2), Tom Collen (Arkansas - Region 3), Kim Mulkey (Baylor - Region 5), Coquese Washington (Penn State - Region 6), Reagan Pebley (Utah State - Region 7) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford - Region 8).
The 2012 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year will be announced during the second annual WBCA Awards Show on Monday, April 2, in Denver. The event is part of the WBCA National Convention and is held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four.
"The WBCA congratulates these eight coaches on being named finalists for this year's Division I Coach of the Year award," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "Each coach was selected by their peers and is deserving of this honor for their terrific seasons. On behalf of the WBCA and its members, I wish all eight of these finalists the best of luck at the WBCA Awards Show in Denver."
Miller, a native of Girard, Pa., has an overall record of 258-92 in 11 seasons at the BGSU helm. He has posted a 135-41 Mid-American Conference record during that time.
The Falcons had only one player on the roster who had ever started a game prior to the 2011-12 season opener, and BG's roster featured nine freshmen or sophomores. But, Miller and his staff – associate head coach Jennifer Roos, assistant coaches Brandi Poole and Kevin Eckert and director of operations Monique Rosati – guided that youthful group to a 24-7 overall record and a 14-2 MAC mark.
The Brown and Orange earned the MAC's automatic bid to the WNIT, marking the eighth consecutive season that Miller's team's have advanced to national postseason play.
For his efforts, Miller was named the MAC Coach of the Year for a league-record sixth time. He earned that honor in five-straight seasons from 2005-09. Miller also earned the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 C-O-Y honor in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
Several of the other coaches honored have a connection to Miller and/or BGSU. Collen, a BGSU alum, was the head coach at Colorado State when Miller was associate head coach there. Collen and Miller helped the Rams to a combined 81-20 mark during their three years together, including a 33-3 record and an NCAA 'Sweet Sixteen' appearance by the 1998-99 team.
Pebley, the former Raegan Scott, was on the CSU staff with Collen and Miller during Miller's final two seasons in Fort Collins. The Rams went 48-17 during those two years.
Earlier this week, Mulkey was in Bowling Green, as top-ranked Baylor defeated UC Santa Barbara and Florida in the 2012 NCAA Championships First and Second Rounds at the Stroh Center. With those two wins, Mulkey is the second-winningest women's basketball coach in Stroh Center history, behind Miller (14 home wins this season).
Miller and the Falcons won at least 20 games for the ninth consecutive season, extending the school and MAC records. In those nine years, the Falcons are 237-57 (80.6%) overall and 124-20 (86.1%) in MAC regular-season play.
As mentioned, Miller is in good company on the regional coach-of-the-year list. McGraw has led her Notre Dame Fighting Irish (32-3) to the Sweet Sixteen following a record-setting regular season. The veteran head coach – in her 25th year with the program – guided her team to a Big East Conference regular season title and runner-up finish in the conference tournament. McGraw is also a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year.
Frese, in her 10th season as head coach at Maryland, is taking her squad to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in her career. Her ninth consecutive 20-win team boasts a 30-4 record and an ACC Championship title. This season, Frese collected her 300th career victory.
Collen's Arkansas Razorbacks posted a program-best SEC regular-season record (10-6) and tied for fourth place in the conference standings. Adding to their list of “firsts,” Collen's team landed an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time during his six-year tenure as head coach of the team.
Mulkey, in her 12th year as head coach of the Baylor Lady Bears, has guided her team to a perfect 36-0 record, Big 12 championship and Sweet Sixteen berth. The Big 12 Coach of the Year's squad earned a No. 1-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Mulkey is also a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award.
Washington's Penn State Lady Lions earned a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Tournament and regular-season title, while she nabbed the conference's Coach of the Year honor. She led her squad to its second-straight NCAA tournament appearance where they have advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time in her five years with the program and first time since 2004.
Pebley guided her Utah State Aggies to a school-record 21-10 record, marking the first time the program has surpassed the 20-win benchmark. The ninth-year head coach took her team to the WNIT for the second consecutive year, following a semifinals appearance in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
VanDerveer – a finalist for the 2012 Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award – and her Stanford Cardinal boast a 33-1 overall record and spot in the Fresno Regional Semifinals. The 33-year veteran head coach has taken her team to 25 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. After winning the Pac-12 regular season and conference tournament titles, VanDerveer was honored as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Russell Athletic and the WBCA present the national coach of the year award annually in each of the five WBCA membership divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II and III; NAIA; junior/community college and high school). This is the 30th year of this honor, which has been selected by the WBCA since 1983.
(Portions of this release are courtesy of the WBCA office)
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