March 29, 2011
PITTSBURGH - Duquesne's Ron Everhart has been selected District 4 coach of the year by his peers in the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Everhart, who guided the Dukes to a 19-13 record and tied for fourth place finish in the Atlantic 10 in his fifth season as head coach, is the first Dukes coach to be honored by the NABC since Red Manning was named District 3 coach of the year in 1972.
District 4 consists of the 14 schools that make up the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Duquesne, picked to finish eighth in the A-10 in a preseason poll of league coaches and media, jumped out to an 8-0 start on the way to finishing with a 10-6 conference record. The Dukes, who started an all-freshman backcourt, were one of four teams to earn a bye in the 2011 Atlantic 10 Championship. Although final NCAA stats will not be published until after the Final Four, DU is a lock to lead the nation in assists (17.8 apg.), steals (9.9 spg.) and turnover margin (+6.7).
Everhart, who took over a Duquesne program that was coming off a 3-24 record with an RPI of 308 in 2005-06, has led the Dukes to three consecutive post-season appearances (NIT, CBI & CBI) for the first time since 1968-71. His DU teams, which are averaging 16.6 wins per season, have put together four straight non-losing seasons for the first time since 1970-73.
Everhart and Manning, who went 247-138 (.642) in 16 seasons as head coach of the Dukes (1959-74), are the only two DU coaches to be honored by the NABC since the district coach awards were established in 1970.
NABC DIVISION I ALL-DISTRICT COACHES
District 1: Ed Cooley, Fairfield
District 2: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
District 3: Rick Byrd, Belmont
District 4: Ron Everhart, DUQUESNE
District 5: Mike Brey, Notre Dame
District 6: Stew Morrill, Utah State
District 7: Matt Painter, Purdue
District 8: Bill Self, Kansas
District 9: Dan Monson, Long Beach State
District 10: Jim Larranaga, George Mason
District 11: Mike Davis, UAB
District 12: (co-) Homer Drew, Valparaiso & Gary Waters, Cleveland State
District 13: Tommy Amaker, Harvard
District 14: Charlie Coles, Miami, Ohio
District 15: Cliff Reed, Bethune-Cookman
District 16: Cuonzo Martin, Missouri State
District 17: Steve Fisher, San Diego State
District 18: Jim Ferry, Long Island
District 19: (co-) Billy Kennedy, Murray State & Donnie Tyndall, Morehead State
District 20: Sean Miller, Arizona
District 21: Billy Donovan, Florida
District 22: Bobby Cremins, College of Charleston
District 23: Dave Simmons, McNeese State
District 24: Mike Jarvis, Florida Atlantic
