MCCARTHY HONORED BY NABC WITH GUARDIAN OF GAME AWARD FOR EDUCATION

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) has selected SUNY Cobleskill Head Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin McCarthy as the recipient of the association’s 2004 Guardian Award for Education. McCarthy will be honored at the annual NABC Awards Show to be held on Sunday April 4th 2004 in San Antonio, Texas held at the association’s annual convention which coincided with the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. The awards program will be held in the Lila Cockrell Theatre in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center beginning at 6:30 PM.

The Guardian Awards were instituted in 2002 to recognize NABC coaches who exemplify one of the four Guardians of the Game core values: Advocacy, Leadership, Service and Education. The Education award goes to a coach dedicated to continuing education and the development of their profession in order to be better mentors, teachers and leaders. The inaugural winner of the award was legendary former UCLA Head Coach John Wooden in 2002. McCarthy becomes the first junior college coach ever honored by the NABC with a Guardian Award.

“I have always considered myself, first and foremost an educator and I take the teaching of the game of basketball very seriously,” said McCarthy. “I am proud that the NABC has honored me in this fashion not for personal glorification but because it validates that coaching is an integral component of academic achievement and success in our program at SUNY Cobleskill. For many student/athletes junior college is a wonderful vehicle to help assist future scholarship athletes in discipline, academic preparedness and to train them to focus on educational priorities. To this end I am pleased to receive this award on behalf of junior college coaches across America.” 

McCarthy will be honored along with Oklahoma State Head Coach Eddie Sutton the recipient of the Leadership Award, University of Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan the recipient of the Service Award and USA Basketball Cadet and Youth Committee Chairman Don Showalter.

During his twelve-year tenure as the Head Coach of the Fighting Tigers McCarthy has led Cobleskill to a 268-97 overall record including a 25-7 record this past season. Under his direction the Fighting Tigers have posted a string of twelve consecutive NJCAA Region III Tournament appearances and currently have the longest active streak of consecutive twenty-win seasons of any SUNY two-year or four-year institutions at ten years dating from the 1994-95 season thru the 2003-04 season.

The Fort Edward, NY native also serves as Cobleskill’s Director of Athletics and Chair of the Department of Physical Education/Recreation/Sports Sciences holding the academic rank of Associate Professor in the college’s Division of Liberal Arts & Sciences.