April 4, 2016

2016 CLARENCE GAINES AWARD

HOUSTON, TX  -- Lincoln Memorial's Josh Schertz is the recipient of the 2016 Clarence Gaines division II National Coach of the Year.

Schertz led the Railsplitters to a 34-3 record and the first NCAA Division II National Championship game appearance in program history, breaking the league and school record for wins and becoming the first program in SAC history to go undefeated in conference play with a 22-0 mark.

One of the true legends of all-time, Gaines retired from Winston-Salem State University in 1993 with a record of 828-446. At the time he was the winningest active basketball coach in NCAA history. Gaines was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

During his 47-year tenure as coach and athletic director at WSSU he coached professional basketball greats Cleo Hill (first African-American from an historically Black college and university to be drafted No. 1 by the National Basketball Association, St. Louis Hawks, 1961) and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe.

2106 CLARENCE GAINES AWARD FINALISTS

Ken Amman	Concordia (California)
Tobin Anderson	St. Thomas Aquinas
Justin Barkley, Rogers State	Rogers State
Randy Baruth	Saginaw Valley State
Tom Billeter	Augustana
Lonnie Blow, Jr.	Virginia State
Michael Cooney	West Geogia
Jim Crutchfield	West Liberty
Keith Dickson	Saint Anselm
Mick Durham	Alaska-Fairbanks
John Ellenwood	Ashland
Blake Flickner	Dallas Baptist
Donte Jackson	Stillman
Jamahl Jackson	Emmanuel
Steve Kinder	Humboldt State
Ben McCollum	Northwest Missouri State
Bob Pietrack	Fort Lewis
George Pitts	King University
Luke Reigel	Wisconsin-Parkside
Steve Roberts	Lander
Tom Ryan	Eckerd
Danny Sancomb	Wheeling Jesuit
Josh Schertz	Lincoln Memorial
Jim Shaw	Western Oregon
Chad Walthall	Minnesota State-Moorhead