University of Tennessee Athletics
PAT SUMMITT NAMED 2004 NAISMITH COACH OF THE YEAR
March 30, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 30, 2004
Atlanta, GA
The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today that Coach Pat Summitt from the University of Tennessee and Coach Phil Martelli of Saint Joseph's University have been selected as the 2004 Naismith College Basketball Coaches of the Year.
In addition to the Coaches of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club named Jameer Nelson and Diana Taurasi as the Naismith College Players of the Year. It was also announced earlier in March that George Killian was named Men's Outstanding Contributor to Basketball and Sonja Hogg as the Women's Outstanding Contributor to Basketball.
Pat Summitt, head women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, has been maintaining a championship basketball program for three decades. This season, the Lady Vols collected their seventh consecutive regular-season SEC title with a 14-0 conference record. They are 29-3 entering Elite Eight play. Of the top men's and women's NCAA Champion title holders, Summitt's teams have played in and claimed the most NCAA tournament victories, winning 83 of 99 contests. Coach Summitt is the first woman to join the 800 Win Club ranked third after Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp (2003). In addition, her 800 wins were compiled faster than any other coach, ever. Summitt is active in her community as a spokesperson for the United Way, The Race for the Cure, and Juvenile Diabetes, among many others.
Phil Martelli, in his ninth year as head coach at Saint Joseph's University, has led the Hawks to a height they've never been. With a final record of 30-2, the Hawks were undefeated in the regular season and the top-ranked team in the nation, as well as a number-one seed in the NCAA tournament. The Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (1997, 2001, 2004) led Saint Joseph's to its fourth NCAA appearance in his nine seasons and its first back-to-back berths. Martelli's 10 postseason wins (5 NCAA, 5 NIT) rank second all-time at Saint Joseph's, trailing only the legendary Jack Ramsay's 12 wins. Martelli also received the USBWA Coach of the Year-Hank Iba Award (2004) and the NABC District 2 Coach of the Year (2004). The 1976 graduate of Widener University is very active in his community and is very dedicated to Coaches vs. Cancer. He was recently inducted into the CYO Hall of Fame and is a member of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Catholic School Hall of Fame as well as the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
The Coca-Cola Company is the presenting sponsor of the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Basketball Awards for 2004.
The Naismith Awards, in its 36th year, are given in honor of the inventor of the game of basketball - Dr. James Naismith. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball. The Awards, including Men's and Women's College Player of the Year, Men's and Women's Coach of the Year, Male and Female Prep Player of the Year, and Men's and Women's Official of the Year, are determined by a vote of the Naismith Board of Selectors. In addition, the Board of Selectors, comprised of a select group of leading basketball coaches, journalists, and administrators, honors a Men's and Women's Outstanding Contributor to Basketball.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club was founded in 1956 as a way for Atlantans to share in a common bond - the love and enjoyment of college basketball. It has a two-fold mission: to promote continued support for the game of basketball and to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting.
