ATLANTA, GA. – NC State Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore was named one of four finalists for the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award as announced on Wednesday.
Currently in his first season as the head coach of the 16th-ranked Wolfpack (25-7), Moore’s inclusion to contend for the award was made by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s National Voting Academy, which based its criteria on the coaches’ performance to this point in the 2013-14 women’s college basketball season.
Moore is among impressive company in being named a finalist for this award, joining Geno Auriemma (UConn), Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame), and Dawn Staley (South Carolina).
“These four finalists have turned in some of the most impressive coaching jobs in college basketball this season, especially considering the challenges each has had to overcome,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
“They set the standard for exemplary leadership, and we commend them for the tremendous season thus far.”
During the 2013-14 season, Moore’s accomplishments include but have not been limited to:
- Receiving ESPNW Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors
- A 4th-place finish in the ACC despite a preseason pick of 10th
- Eleven straight weeks in the AP and USA Today top-25 polls
- First AP top-10 ranking since 2001
- 25 wins
- A 21-3 start to the season, the best such beginning since 1981-82
- Ten wins over top-100 RPI teams
- Fourteen wins in 16 home games
- A double bye in the ACC Tournament
- A five seed in the NCAA Tournament
- Two All-ACC selections (Markeisha Gatling and Kody Burke)
The Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award will be announced during the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Nashville, Tenn. that will take place April 6-8.