The Winged Foot Award

The Winged Foot Award


Congratulations to the LSU Tigers and the UConn Huskies


The NYAC Winged Foot Award offers congratulations to Coaches Kim Mulkey and Dan Hurley for guiding their teams to victory in the 2023 NCAA men’s and women’s NCAA Division I Basketball Tournaments.

The women’s championship game took place on April 2nd at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The matchup pitted two talented teams against each other, but Coach Mulkey’s Louisiana State Tigers came out on top, defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes by a score of 102 to 85. The victory marked the first women’s basketball championship title in LSU history, and Coach Mulkey’s fourth championship as a head coach, the first three coming during her 21-year stint at Baylor University. Coach Mulkey’s success is unprecedented, having become the first coach in history to win a national championship as a player (twice), an assistant coach (once) and a head coach (four times); with this victory she becomes the first women’s college basketball coach to lead two different teams to a national championship. Coach Mulkey’s other accolades include an Olympic gold medal as a player and inductions into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

In the men’s tournament, the competition was similarly hard fought, but Coach Hurley’s UConn Huskies prevailed over the San Diego State Aztecs, 76-59, in a thrilling April 3rd matchup at NRG Stadium in Houston, capping a dominant run through the bracket during which the team won its six NCAA Tournament games by an average of 20 points. The victory marked the fifth men’s basketball championship in UConn history and was Coach Hurley’s first national championship in his 13th season as a college basketball head coach. (His fifth season at UConn). Like Coach Mulkey, Coach Hurley has found success throughout his career, compiling a 223-21 record as head coach at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in New Jersey and winning the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament title (2017), the regular season title (2018) and Coach of the Year (2018) as head coach at the University of Rhode Island.

In earning the 2023 Division I titles and the NYAC Winged Foot Award, Coaches Mulkey and Hurley personify all for which the Award stands: dedication, passion, commitment and the unfailing belief that those attributes developed on the field of play will serve young athletes well throughout their lives.

                            

About the Winged Foot Award


Established in 1996 by the celebrated New York Athletic Club, the Winged Foot Award recognizes the coaches of the winning teams of the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. In the years since its inception, the Winged Foot Award has become synonymous with the spirit of collegiate basketball. Having been presented to some of the most accomplished coaches in NCAA history, the Award recognizes and acknowledges those men and women who guide, motivate and enable scholar athletes to reach the peak of their endeavors, both on and off the basketball court.

The annual presentation of the Award takes place at the NYAC’s elegant City House overlooking Central Park South in mid-town Manhattan. Within those confines, a glittering array of coaching and athletic talent gathers each year once the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s tournaments are concluded. To say that the event is celebratory hardly does it justice. As coaches such as Kim Mulkey, Geno Auriemma, Mike Krzyzewski, Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim and Carolyn Peck, to name just a few, will certainly attest, it is an evening that lives in memory.

In addition to recognizing the winning coaches, the Winged Foot Award ceremony intermittently honors a select individual as a Winged Foot Award Legend. Reserved for the men and women whose impact on the game of basketball has been extraordinarily profound, this prestigious honor is bestowed on select coaches, broadcasters and administrators. To date, the Winged Foot Award has recognized nine such Legends. Among these celebrated figures are Dean Smith, John Wooden, Pat Summitt and Billy Packer.

While the spotlight of the Winged Foot Award shines brightly on the winning coaches, significantly the award also serves an altruistic purpose, with a donation being made in the name of each winning school to the Jimmy V Foundation. In that, the Award seeks not only to celebrate an invariably rousing tournament but also to lend support where it is decidedly needed. It need hardly be said that lending support is the very essence of good coaching.

Every year, the NCAA Division I basketball tournaments capture the imagination of sports fans across the USA. It is now a tradition that, having captured the titles and cut down the nets, the season is not truly over until the Winged Foot Award has been presented to the coaches who have guided their athletes to the pinnacle of their dreams.
 

Winged Foot Award i

Winged Foot Award i

The Recipients

Women

1999 - Carolyn Peck, Purdue
2000 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2001 - Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
2002 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2003 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2004 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2005 - Kim Mulkey, Baylor
2006 - Brenda Frese, Maryland
2007 - Pat Summitt, Tennessee
2008 - Pat Summitt, Tennessee
2009 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2010 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2011 - Gary Blair, Texas A&M
2012 - Kim Mulkey, Baylor
2013 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2014 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2015 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2016 - Geno Auriemma, UConn
2017 - Dawn Staley, South Carolina
2018 - Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
2019 - Kim Mulkey, Baylor
2020 - No Tournament
2021 - Tara VanDerVeer, Stanford
2022 - Dawn Staley, South Carolina
2023 - Kim Mulkey, Louisiana State

Men

1996 - Rick Pitino, Kentucky
1997 - Lute Olson, Arizona
1998 - Tubby Smith, Kentucky
1999 - Jim Calhoun, UConn
2000 - Tom Izzo, Michigan State
2001 - Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
2002 - Gary Williams, Maryland
2003 - Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
2004 - Jim Calhoun, UConn
2005 - Roy Williams, North Carolina
2006 - Billy Donovan, Florida
2007 - Billy Donovan, Florida
2008 - Bill Self, Kansas
2009 - Roy Williams, North Carolina
2010 - Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
2011 - Jim Calhoun, UConn
2012 - John Calipari, Kentucky
2013 - Rick Pitino, Louisville
2014 - Kevin Ollie, UConn
2015 - Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
2016 - Jay Wright, Villanova
2017 - Roy Williams, North Carolina
2018 - Jay Wright, Villanova
2019 - Tony Bennett, Virginia
2020 - No Tournament
2021 - Scott Drew, Baylor
2022 - Bill Self, Kansas
2023 - Dan Hurley, UConn

The Legends

1997 – Al Maguire
1998 – Dean Smith
1999 – Lou Carnesecca
2000 – John Wooden
2010 – Bob Knight
2012 – Ray Lumpp
2013 – Pat Summitt
2014 – Billy Packer
2023 – Bill Raftery

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