LUBBOCK, Texas -- Butler head coach Brad Stevens was named the Coach Clair Bee Award winner, Chip Hilton Sports announced this afternoon. The honor goes to the coach who is determined to have made the most significant positive contribution to college basketball during the preceding year.
The winner reflects the character and professional qualities of Clair Bee, a Hall of Fame coach whom many consider the best technical basketball coach in history and a man who cared deeply about his players’ well being.
The finalists for the award were Rick Byrd of Belmont, Texas A&M's Mark Turgeon and Stevens.
Stevens, the two-time Horizon League Coach of the Year, has guided the Bulldogs to consecutive Final Fours, amassing 116 victories against just 24 losses in a four-year span. The 116 wins shattered the NCAA Division I record of 107 in a coaches' first four years, set by Everett Case of North Carolina State from 1947-50.
So far this season, he has guided Butler to a 27-9 campaign, the school’s League-record fifth consecutive Horizon League regular season championship a second straight Horizon League Tournament title, a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and a return visit to the Final Four.
Stevens recorded his 100th career win in his 120th career game. Only five coaches in NCAA men’s basketball history reached 100 wins faster, and none has done it in the last three decades. Stevens is tied for sixth on the NCAA Division I coaching list for “Fastest To 100 Wins.” He’s tied for fifth on the list for “Fastest To 50 Wins.”
Stevens, the youngest coach (34) to reach his second Final Four, was chosen to serve as an assistant coach for the 2011 USA Men’s World University Games Team. The World University Games will be held August 12-23 in Shenzhen, China.
Tags: Butler - Men's Basketball
