Longwood basketball coach Griff Aldrich has been named a finalist for a pair of prestigious coaching awards: the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award and the Hugh Durham Award.
The Jim Phelan Award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I coach and is named in honor of legendary bow-tied coach Jim Phelan. Phelan spent his entire career at Mount Saint Mary’s University.
This year, the 20-person finalist pool includes a who’s who of household names at the highest levels of the sport. In addition to Aldrich, Duke’s Mike Kryzewksi, North Carolina’s Hubert Davis, Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Baylor’s Scott Drew are on the list, among others.
The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball. This award is named after a coach who built winning programs at three universities, which include Jacksonville University, Florida State and Georgia. Finalists come from a selection of mid-major conferences.
The winner of each award will be announced on April 1 in New Orleans.
Aldrich was named the Big South Coach of the Year after guiding Longwood to the program’s best season in the team’s Division I history. The Lancers claimed both the Big South regular season and conference tournament titles en route to their first trip to the NCAA National Tournament since joining the ranks of Division I. The team also received a vote in the AP Top 25 and spent the last month of the season inside the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25, reaching as high as 14th prior to the NCAA Tournament.
The team’s 26-7 record marked the first time the Lancers surpassed the 20-win plateau, also a program first, and the team went 15-1 in Willett Hall, again a program best mark. The Lancers raced out to a 15-1 record in Big South play, a program best since joining the league.
Longwood reeled off 11 straight wins, including their first 10 in conference play, which marked only the fourth time the team had won at least 10 straight games in program history across all levels and the first time since the 1993-94 season. The offense led the league in scoring, and the defense was one of the top three in the league in points allowed per game.
The Lancers had a pair of All-Big South First Team selections in Justin Hill and Isaiah Wilkins, with Hill finishing third in the conference player of the year voting. DeShaun Wade was named All-Big South Honorable Mention. It was the first time since joining the league that the team had a pair of players on the All-Big South First Team and three players selected for postseason honors. Wilkins was also named the Big South Tournament MVP, where he was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Hill and Wade.
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