Pitino Named Conference USA Coach of the Year
March 09, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2005
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino was named Conference USA's Ray Meyer Coach of the Year in an annoucement by the conference office today. The Ray Meyer Coach of the Year Award is selected by the conference coaches and is presented by the Birmingham Tip-Off Club.
Pitino, in his fourth season at U of L, earned the award after directing the Cardinals to a 26-4 overall record, a 14-2 C-USA mark and their first C-USA regular season championship. The No. 6-ranked Cardinals enter the C-USA Tournament as the top-seed and will open play Thursday against the Marquette-TCU winner at 1 p.m. EST at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.
This is the fourth time that Pitino has been honored as a conference Coach of the Year, having earned the SEC's top coaching accolade in 1990, 1991 and 1996. He has been recognized as a National Coach of the Year three times and ranks among the 10 winningest active NCAA Division I men's basketball coaches by percentage.
It was also announced that Charlotte senior swingman Eddie Basden was voted as the Conference USA Player of the Year.
