Amanda Butler named semifinalist for National Coach of the Year |
ATLANTA - Clemson women’s basketball head coach Amanda Butler has been named a semifinalist for the 2019 Werner Ladder Citizen Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Butler is one of 10 candidates tabbed as a semifinalist for the national award and is one of four Atlantic Coast Conference coaches on the list.
The nomination comes on the heels of earning ACC Coach of the Year, the first Clemson women’s basketball coach to receive the conference award since Jim Davis in 1994. Clemson’s turnaround in Butler’s first year at the helm has been nothing short of remarkable. The Tigers are sitting at 19-12 (9-7, ACC) on the season and are eying their first postseason appearance since 2004 (WNIT) or 2002 (NCAA). Butler coached the Tigers to nine ACC wins this season, eight victories over last year’s mark. That is the largest turnaround in wins by a first-year head coach in ACC history. Only two ACC coaches have manufactured better turnarounds in their careers: Katie Meier, 2011 Miami (tied, eight wins) and Kay Yow, 1989 NC State (nine wins). A team that was picked to finish last in the ACC by the Blue Ribbon Panel, Clemson finished the regular season in seventh place in the conference standings, tying the 2014-15 Pittsburgh Panthers for the highest finish above preseason prediction. The Atlanta Tipoff Club will announce the four finalists for the national award on Thursday, March 21.
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