Tribe Headman Tony Shaver Named a Finalist for 2008 Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award

The reigning CAA Coach of the Year is one of 10 finalists for the award.

03/12/08 6:00PM

Boston, Mass. - William and Mary head men’s basketball coach Tony Shaver was named one of 10 finalists for the 2008 Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award, CollegeInsider.com announced on March 12. In his fifth season at the helm of the Tribe program, Shaver earned Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year accolades and guided the program to the league championship game for the first time in school history, coming within a game of the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Shaver joined a list of finalists that includes Ronnie Arrow of South Alabama, Randy Bennett of St. Mary's, Keno Davis of Drake, Steve Donahue of Cornell, Danny Kaspar of Stephen F. Austin, Bob McKillop of Davidson, Randy Monroe of UMBC, Mike Rice of Robert Morris and Brad Stevens of Butler. The Hugh Durham Award is given annually to the nation’s top mid-major coach, as voted on by the 20-member panel. The winner will be presented with the award at the Final Four in San Antonio.

In 2005 the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Coach of the Year award was renamed in honor of Hugh Durham who retired at the end of the 2004-05 season. Durham is one of just 12 coaches to have led two different programs to the NCAA Final Four (Florida State in 1972 and Georgia in 1983). He is the only coach to lead both teams to their only Final Four appearance. The previous winners of the award are Gregg Marshall of Winthrop in 2007, Pat Flannery of Bucknell in 2006 and Bob Thomason of Pacific in 2005.

Shaver led the Tribe to its first appearance in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship Game on March 10. W&M made an impressive run though the CAA Tournament with last-second victories in each of its first three games of the event, including a 56-54 win over top seed and CAA regular season champion VCU in the semifinals. In the opening round, a David Schneider 25-foot 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining gave the Tribe a 58-57 win over Georgia State. Senior Nathan Mann canned a triple from the left wing with the score tied at 60 and only 7.5 seconds remaining to give the College 63-60 triumph over No. 4 seed Old Dominion in the quarterfinals, before senior Laimis Kisielius’ leaning six-foot bank shot with three seconds left sent the Tribe to the finals with the narrow victory over VCU.

During the 2007-08 campaign, W&M won 17 games, marking only the sixth time in school history that a Tribe team had won 17 or more contests. W&M finished fifth in the league on the strength of a 10-8 CAA ledger. It marked only the second time in the Tribe’s 23-year history in the CAA that it has won double-digit games.

W&M completed its first winning season in a decade under Shaver and post back-to-back seasons of 15-or-more wins for the first time in a quarter of a century at the College. The Tribe won nine games that were decided by four or less points, including a quartet of victories from which W&M rallied from a double-digit deficit. The Green and Gold also established CAA records for 3-pointers made (257) and attempted (755) in a season.

Earlier in the year, Shaver tallied his 400th career collegiate victory as the Tribe downed Fairfield, 71-50, on Dec. 31. Also during the 2007-08 season, W&M had only its 10th winning streak of six or more games since 1950 and won four-straight CAA road games for the first time in school history.

2008 Durham Award Finalists
Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama)
Randy Bennett (St. Mary's)
Keno Davis (Drake)
Steve Donahue (Cornell)
Danny Kaspar (Stephen F. Austin)
Bob McKillop (Davidson)
Randy Monroe (UMBC)
Mike Rice (Robert Morris)
TONY SHAVER (WILLIAM & MARY)
Brad Stevens (Butler)

Click HERE to visit the Hugh Durham Award Web site.

Click HERE to visit the official release.