April 3, 2009
Lubbock, Texas -
Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson was named the 2009 Clair Bee Coach of the Year on Friday after leading the Tigers to a school-record 31 wins and a berth into the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight last week.
The Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award honors a Division I men’s basketball coach who through his actions on and off the court, makes an outstanding contribution to the sport of college basketball. The criteria for this award involves actions that inspire, motivate, coach and educate their teams to achieve their fullest potential and demonstrate outstanding character.
Anderson becomes the second Big 12 Conference head coach to win the award, joining former Texas Tech sideline boss, Bob Knight, who won the honor in 2002. Knight was on the award’s selection committee this season, joining his son, Pat Knight, Dan Beebe, Jay Bilas, Dave Gavitt, Bob Hammel, Billy Packer, Dean Smith, and Dick Vitale.
A native of Birmingham, Ala., Anderson guided a Missouri program picked to finish seventh in the Big 12’s preseason poll to a third-place regular season showing thanks to a school-best 12-4 league mark. His Tigers were also the most improved team in the country this year, going from a 16-16 mark in 2007-08, to a 31-7 overall mark, which is an improvement of 15 wins. That 15-win improvement is the most in school history.
Mizzou also equaled its longest advancement in NCAA Tournament play this year, defeating Cornell (78-59), #23 Marquette (83-79) and #2 Memphis (102-91) to reach the Elite Eight in Glendale, Ariz. Missouri was the only program in this year’s Sweet 16 to have not received a single vote for the Preseason Top 25 poll and MU will most likely finish among the Top 10 in the final Associated Press poll for just the fifth time in school history.
As a team Missouri was one of the nation’s most exciting programs, leading the country with 18.4 assists, ranking second with 10.2 steals and ranking fourth with 81.5 points. The Tigers were also one of America’s most dominant clubs at home, going a perfect 18-0 this past season, while averaging a 25.2 ppg scoring margin inside Mizzou Arena.
Anderson will receive the award on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. ET at the National Association of Basketball Coaches Past Presidents Luncheon in Detroit.
Clair Bee Award Winners
2009 – Mike Anderson, Missouri
2008 - Bob McKillop, Davidson
2007 - Bo Ryan, Wisconsin
2006 - Jim Larranaga, George Mason
2005 - Tom Izzo, Michigan State
2004 - Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
2003 - Tom Crean, Marquette
2002 - Bob Knight, Texas Tech
2001 - Lute Olson, Arizona
2000 - Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
1999 - Jim O'Brien, Ohio State
1998 - Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary's
1997 - Clem Haskins, Minnesota
