Wittenberg Basketball Coaches Earn NCAC Coach of the Year Honors

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Two coaches who are no strangers to success picked up more hardware for their trophy cases on Monday. Wittenberg University Men's Basketball Head Coach Bill Brown and Women's Basketball Head Coach Pam Smith were both named North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in a vote of their peers, the conference office announced.

For Brown, the award was the fourth of his career and second in a row. Also honored as NCAC Coach of the Year in 1986 at Kenyon College and 1994 and 2001 at Wittenberg, Brown led his team to a 26-4 overall record and a mark of 15-1 in the NCAC regular season. Wittenberg swept the conference's regular season and tournament championships for the first time since 1996 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament, losing last Saturday to seventh-ranked DePauw University.

For Smith, the award was also her fourth since she returned to her alma mater in 1986, adding to honors she claimed in 1991, 1992 and 1995. She led her team, which was picked to finish third in the league in one preseason poll, to a 21-6 overall record and a mark of 14-2 in the NCAC regular season. Wittenberg won the conference's regular season championship but was upended in the championship game of the NCAC tournament, falling in overtime to defending champion and current NCAA Division III Round of 16 participant Ohio Wesleyan.

In many ways, the honors were fitting caps to outstanding seasons for both coaches. Brown won the 200th game of his Wittenberg coaching career against Hiram on Feb. 9, and he later called the 2002 season, "the most fun I've had coaching a team since I came to Wittenberg." His team, picked to finish second in the conference in both preseason polls, jelled early in the season despite the fact that three senior starters had to be replaced, including 2001 NCAC Player of the Year Ryan Taylor.

Brown, whose Wittenberg teams have won at least 18 games every year and have claimed five NCAC regular season titles and two NCAC tournament crowns in his nine years, now has a career record of 266-150 and a mark of 206-51 with his alma mater. With the 2002 national tourney appearance, the Tigers have made the NCAA Division III Championship tournament six times in his nine years.

Smith won the 300th game of her career against the College of Wooster in the quarterfinals of the NCAC tournament on Feb. 19. The win placed Smith in the company of just 21 women's basketball coaches at the NCAA Division III level who had won 300 games in their career heading into this season, and Smith stood tied for 26th among active Division III coaches in total victories at that time. Like Brown, her team had some graduation losses to contend with, as well as a deep and balanced league competition that tripped up several contenders.

Smith, a 1999 Wittenberg Athletics Hall of Honor inductee, now has a career record of 301-127 in 16 seasons as the Tigers' head coach. Smith has guided the Tigers to 10 seasons with at least 20 wins, six appearances in the NCAA tournament, eight NCAC regular season championships and five NCAC tournament titles. The team enjoyed a breakout 1989-90 season by going 26-3 and winning the NCAC in its first season as a league member, and since that time the Tigers have posted 13 straight winning seasons. Neither Wittenberg basketball team has ever finished lower than third in an NCAC regular season.