“Rising Stars”
BasketballScoop.com and ONS Performance™, makers of Critical Reload™, announced today the winners of the “Rising Stars” awards. The awards recognize those assistant coaches who are some of the best in the business as determined by their peers.
“The best part about these awards is that the process is entirely driven by coaches. To even be considered for the awards each coach had to have been nominated by another coach in the game. The winners were then selected by a panel of current head and assistant coaches,” said Scott Roussel, President of BasketballScoop.
Michael Bewley, President and CEO of ONS Performance™ added, “ONS Performance’s Critical Reload would like to congratulate this year’s nominees and winners. Recognized by their peers for their talent, effort and dedication, Critical Reload is proud to be a sponsor of this elite selection of coaches. Much like these coaches, at ONS Performance our commitment to the athlete is clearly demonstrated in our product design, testing and certification efforts to ensure athletes and coaches receive top-quality health, safety and performance nutrition. Congratulations again to this years winners!”
Roussel added, “Each Finalist is extremely well thought of in the profession and we have received nothing but positive feedback about the awards and each coach. Our panel felt strongly that each Finalist was deserving and thus in addition to announcing the five Rising Stars we are also naming a second team.”
The BasketballScoop 2009 Coaches of the Year powered by Critical Reload™ are:
Mike Neighbors – Assistant Coach – Xavier University
Jennifer Roos – Associate Head Coach – Bowling Green
Vic Schaefer – Associate Head Coach – Texas A&M
Jackie Smith Carson – Associate Head Coach – James Madison
Jonathan Tsipis – Associate Head Coach – Notre Dame
Coaches were evaluated in the following areas: Recruiting, Player Development, Team Development / Scouting, Leadership and Administration.
Mike Neighbors – Xavier head coach Kevin McGuff recently told BasketballScoop that Neighbors is “a great coach, an incredibly hard worker and an even better person.” One of Neighbors primary tasks for the Musketeers is scouting the opponents and preparing a game plan to attack their weaknesses. McGuff told BasketballScoop that, “Mike is one of the best I’ve ever seen at finding ways to stop an opponent from doing what they want to do on the court.” Two years ago Neighbors left his alma mater, Arkansas, for the opportunity to coach with McGuff at Xavier. In the two seasons, Xavier has gone 49-16 (24-4 in conference) and they led the country in field goal percentage defense this season.
Jennifer Roos – Head coach Curt Miller tells BasketballScoop that, “At Bowling Green defense leads the way Jennifer is our defensive coordinator.” The Falcon defense consistently leads their conference in most defensive categories and ranks very high nationally as well. Five seasons ago, Miller named Roos Associate Head Coach. The Falcons have won their conference every year since. Miller sees the connection, adding, “Jennifer is really one of the elite assistants in the country.” In addition to her role on the court, Roos is also the team’s recruiting coordinator and is credited by Miller with helping the Falcons grow from a mid-major into a Top 40 caliber team, “Jennifer works very hard to ensure we get the right players into the program and she deserves every bit of the credit she gets. She’s great!”
Vic Schaefer – Schaefer has coached under Gary Blair for 12 seasons. Blair tells BasketballScoop that, “Vic is one of the best coaches in the game. He puts everything he has into making the program a success. Vic tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear and that makes us a better team.” One highly respected coach told BasketballScoop that watching an Aggie practice is fascinating, “When it comes time to talk defense, Coach Blair turns it over to Vic and Vic runs the show. He’s really a brilliant defensive coach.” Schaefer served as head coach of the bronze medal winning US team at the William Jones Cup in Taiwan in 2007.
Jackie Smith Carson – Head coach Kenny Brooks told BasketballScoop, “Jackie is going to have a very positive impact on the game for a long time. She’s probably the best coach I’ve ever worked with. I have to fight to keep her every year.” Nearly every coach BasketballScoop spoke with in connection with the awards said Coach Carson is something special. In her four seasons at JMU, the Dukes have averaged nearly 25 wins per season while going 99-33 overall and have participated in post season play every year.
Jonathan Tsipis – Coach Tsipis has worked under three national championship winning head coaches and has a great basketball network. Tsipis, the Irish’s recruiting coordinator, has helped Notre Dame attract 12 straight Top 20 recruiting classes. Head coach Muffet McGraw tells BasketballScoop that, “Jonathan knows somebody everywhere we go and he is very respected by other coaches and players. He really enjoys recruiting and excels at player development.” McGraw added that Tsipis is, “very organized and thorough and prepares the team very well for upcoming opponents. His basketball mind never stops working.” McGraw added, “There are a lot of games that we would not have won without Jonathan’s insight and hard work.”
The Second Team consists of Cori Close (Florida St.), Chris Dailey (Connecticut), Curt Kassab (VCU), Lisa McDonald (Ball St.) and Stephanie Norman (Louisville). Regarding this group, Roussel added, “Cori has done a great job on both coasts. She has the respect of coaches across the country and will be a great head coach someday soon. Chris Dailey is an exceptional coach and Geno gives her a lot of credit. She brings in the best talent. Curt is a great coach. He has only been coaching at the college level for two seasons and there is already a national buzz about him. He’s going to be a guy to watch for a longtime, players love playing for him. Lisa has been an integral part of Ball State’s success under two head coaches. She works hard and is very well thought of in the profession. Stephanie and Jeff (Walz) have put together a great program at Louisville. They had a great run this year culminating in a season ending loss to UConn in the National Championship game. Stephanie is a hard-nosed recruiter. Other coaches around the country know they’re in for a battle if they are competing with Stephanie for a player.”
To read more about these awards, click here to see the original announcement.