USBWA Henry Iba Award
Presented to the National Coach of the Year
For more than four decades, Henry P. "Hank" Iba reigned as the "Iron Duke of Defense" in college basketball, including 36 years at Oklahoma State University (formerly Oklahoma A&M). He led Oklahoma A&M to NCAA championships in 1945 and '46, and he directed the U.S. Olympic team to two gold medals in 1964 and '68 and one silver medal in '72.
His A&M/OSU teams won 655 games and lost 316 for a .675 percentage. He also coached A&M baseball until 1941 with a 90-41 record (a .687 winning percentage), and he assumed the role of athletic director less than a year after arriving on campus. His basketball teams were known for their tough, man-for-man defenses and for the "Iba deep freeze" in the final minutes of close games, but he adjusted to major changes such as the jump shot and bonus free throws.
Iba, born in Easton, Mo., on Aug. 6, 1904, started his basketball coaching career at Oklahoma City's Classen High School, where the Comets earned a 51-5 record in two years and won the state championship in 1928-29. He led Maryville Teachers College in Missouri to a 101-14 record before coaching at the University of Colorado for one year and then moving to Oklahoma A&M in 1935. Overall, his teams won 767 college games.
His 1945-46 NCAA champions were led by Bob Kurland, the game's first seven-foot player. They beat NYU in the 1945 finals and North Carolina in the 1946 finals. He was voted coach of the year in both seasons. His 1945 champions also defeated National Invitation Tournament champion, DePaul, and 6-9 center George Mikan in a classic Red Cross Benefit game.
Iba held the dual position of basketball coach and athletic director until he retired in 1970. He was elected to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Missouri Hall of Fame, the Helms Foundation All-Time Hall of Fame for basketball, and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Springfield, Mass. Henry Iba died on January 15, 1993, at Stillwater, Okla.
2022 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
Arizona first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd led the Wildcats to the Pac-12 Conference championship and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament and is the first Arizona coach to earn the honor and the first from the Pac-12 since Tony Bennett at Washington State in 2007. Arizona (33-4) ascended to several success marks during Lloyd's first season in Tucson. The Wildcats finished the season 17-0 at home, the 13th time they have finished a season undefeated in the 49-year history of the McKale Center. Arizona's 19-game home win streak is the longest active streak in the Pac-12 and the third-longest in Division I heading into next season. The 'Cats won nine road games for the first time since 2016-17 and were 7-0 in neutral site games.
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| Arizona's Tommy Lloyd won the Henry Iba Award in his first season as a head coach after spending 20 seasons on the bnech with Gonzaga. |
2021 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Juwan Howard, Michigan
Michigan second-year head coach Juwan Howard, who led the Wolverines to a Big Ten regular-season championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, has been named the winner of the Henry Iba Award. Howard is just the second Michigan coach to earn the honor, joining Johnny Orr from the 1975-76 season. Howard was chosen from a list of finalists that also included the 2017 winner, Mark Few of Gonzaga, along with Scott Drew of Baylor and Nate Oats of Alabama. Following a 25-year career in the NBA – 19 as a player and six as an assistant coach – Howard earned the District V Coach of the Year this season by leading Michigan (20-4) to its first Big Ten regular-season title since 2014. Howard is the first Big Ten coach to be honored as the USBWA national coach of the year since Bruce Weber at Illinois in 2005 and he is the first to earn Big Ten Coach of the Year honors from both the media and the coaches’ votes since Weber that same season.
2020 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Anthony Grant, Dayton
A former team captain and MVP at his alma mater, Anthony Grant led Dayton to a school-record 29 wins against only two losses, both of which came on neutral floors and in overtime, including one to top-ranked Kansas. The Flyers were picked third in the A-10 preseason poll but ascended to No. 3 in both final polls after a perfect conference season that earned Dayton its third conference title in the last five years. Dayton's 20-game win streak that ended up closing its season was the nation's longest active streak in Division I is currently tied with the school record from the 1951-52 season. Grant is the fourth coach from the A-10 to win the Henry Iba Award and the first since Martelli (2004) joined Temple's John Chaney in 1987 and '88.
2019 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Rick Barnes, Tennessee
Rick Barnes led the Volunteers to arguably the greatest season in school history that included a school-record 19-game win streak. His guidance helped keep Tennessee ranked among the top 10 in both national polls throughout the season that included sitting at No. 1 in the polls for four weeks at the end of the record win streak. Led by Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist and first-team All-American Grant Williams, Tennessee finished second in the Southeastern Conference with a 15-3 record and a 29-5 finish to the regular season. Barnes is the first SEC coach to win the award since Tubby Smith of Kentucky in 2003, and only five SEC coaches have ever won the Henry Iba Award – Barnes, Smith (2003), Cliff Ellis of Auburn (1999), Eddie Fogler of Vanderbilt (1993) and Adolph Rupp of Kentucky (1966) – since its inception in 1959.
2018 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Tony Bennett, Virginia
Tony Bennett, who guided the Cavaliers to a 28-2 overall regular-season record that includes an ACC-record 17-1 conference mark, has been named the winner of the Henry Iba Award, given annually by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to the national coach of the year. For Bennett, this is the third time he's been selected as the USBWA's National Coach of the Year and the second time in the last four seasons. In the 2006-07 season, Bennett also won the award while at Washington State. Only UCLA's John Wooden has won the award more times (6). In addition, Bennett earned his third ACC Coach of the Year Award earlier this week. This season, Virginia was picked sixth in the ACC in the preseason and was unranked in the national preseason polls. But under Bennett, the Cavaliers nearly swept their conference schedule while earning a third outright ACC regular-sesason title in the last five seasons, along with the program's first No. 1 ranking since 1982.
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| Xavier's Chris Mack led the Musketeers to a 26-4 regular-season record to become the school's first-ever national coach of the year recipient. |
2017 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Mark Few, Gonzaga
Mark Few, who guided Gonzaga to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, has been named winner of the Henry Iba Award, given annually by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to the national coach of the year. nder Few, the Bulldogs posted their second No. 1 national ranking in program history this season and won the West Coast Conference regular-season and tournament championships for a fifth straight year with a team comprised of nine new players. At one point, the Zags were 29-0. Gonzaga enters the tournament with a 32-1 record, the 10th consecutive season Gonzaga has had at least 25 wins under Few and the third time in school history with 30 or more victories in a season.
2016 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Chris Mack, Xavier
Chris Mack, whose Xavier Musketeers were unranked in preseason Top 25 polls but have climbed to No. 5 this week entering play in the Big East Conference Tournament, has been selected the winner of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Henry Iba Award for national coach of the year. Mack, in his seventh season at Xavier, is the first coach in school history to win national coach of the year honors. He is a 1992 Xavier graduate with a degree in communication arts, where he was a two-time team captain as a player under then-head coach Pete Gillen.
2015 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Tony Bennett, Virginia
Virginia's Tony Bennett is the 2014-15 recipient of the Henry Iba Award, presented annually to the national coach of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. In his sixth season at Virginia, Bennett, 45, led the Cavaliers to a 30-4 record, which tied the school record for wins in a season set last season and in 1982-83. For the second straight season, Virginia won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title. Bennett's career mark at Virginia is a stellar 136-64 (.680 winning percentage).
2014 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Gregg Marshall, Wichita State
Wichita State's Gregg Marshall is the 2013-14 recipient of the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. In his seventh season at Wichita State, Marshall, 51, led the Shockers to a 35-1 record, including a 30-0 regular season, an 18-0 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference and the conference's regular-season and tournament titles. For the fifth straight season, the Shockers won at least 25 games and Marshall's career mark at Wichita State is a remarkable 174-71 (.710 winning percentage).
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| Miami's Jim Larrañaga breathed new life into the Hurricane program in just two seasons on the job. |
2013 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Jim Larrañaga, Miami
Miami's Jim Larrañaga is the 2012-13 recipient of the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. In his second season at Miami, Larrañaga, 63, has led the Hurricanes to a 27-6 record, including the school's first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The 'Canes will make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008 as a No. 2 seed in the East Region.
2012 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Frank Haith, Missouri
Missouri's Frank Haith, the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, is the 2012 recipient of the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. In his first season at Missouri, the USBWA District VI Coach of the Year guided a team that was ranked 25th in the Associated Press' preseason poll and picked fourth in the Big 12 to unexpected heights. Playing with only seven scholarship players for the most of the season but with a core of seniors in the lineup, Missouri won 18 of its first 19 games.
2011 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Mike Brey, Notre Dame
Notre Dame's Mike Brey, the Big East Conference Coach of the Year, is the 2011 recipient of the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Despite entering the season unranked, the Fighting Irish rose to as high as No. 4 in the nation in March and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Led by second-team USBWA All-American Ben Hansbrough, the Fighting Irish finished the season with a modern-era school record 27 wins, including 25 in the regular season. The No. 2 seed was the school's highest since the 1981 team was also a second seed and Notre Dame's 14 Big East Conference wins tied a school mark.
2010 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, the winningest coach in Big East Conference history and the second winningest active coach in Division I basketball, is this year’s recipient Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. In a season in which Boeheim won his 800th career game, Syracuse captured its first outright Big East regular-season title since 1991 and was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll on March 1.
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| Kansas' Bill Self accepts the Henry Iba Award (Photo: Aaron Eckels) |
2009 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Bill Self, Kansas
Bill Self, who led the Kansas Jayhawks to a Big 12 regular season title despite not having one starter return from last year’s national championship team, is this year’s recipient of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award. With a team picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason, Self had just one player with much experience returning from a year ago – guard Sherron Collins, who had a 2.2 scoring average last season. But Self molded the Jayhawks into a contender early and they came on strong down the stretch to finish with a 25-6 regular season record, a 14-2 mark in the Big 12 and a top 10 national ranking. The Big 12 named him coach of the year in the conference.
2008 Henry Iba Coach of the Year: Keno Davis, Drake
First-year Drake University Coach Keno Davis, who guided the Bulldogs to the school's first NCAA tournament berth and first Missouri Valley Conference championship in 37 years, has been selected winner of the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Davis, 36, engineered Drake to a surprise regular season MVC championship, its first since 1971, and the school's first-ever MVC tournament championship. Drake won 21 straight games at one point, en route to a school-record 28-4 record entering the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs were nationally-ranked for eight straight weeks in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls during the regular season. The Henry Iba Award for Davis marks the first time a Drake basketball coach has been named national coach of the year since coaching legend Maury John was honored in 1969 by the USBWA.
ALL-TIME HENRY IBA AWARD WINNERS (USBWA NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR)
2022-23 Shaka Smart, Marquette (Big East)
2021-22 Tommy Lloyd, Arizona (Pac-12)
2020-21 Juwan Howard, Michigan (Big Ten)
2019-20 Anthony Grant, Dayton (Atlantic 10)
2018-19 Rick Barnes, Tennessee (SEC)
2017-18 Tony Bennett, Virginia (ACC)
2016-17 Mark Few, Gonzaga (West Coast)
2015-16 Chris Mack, Xavier (Big East)
2014-15 Tony Bennett, Virginia (ACC)
2013-14 Gregg Marshall, Wichita State (Missouri Valley)
2012-13 Jim Larrañaga, Miami, Fla. (ACC)
2011-12 Frank Haith, Missouri (Big 12)
2010-11 Mike Brey, Notre Dame (Big East)
2009-10 Jim Boeheim, Syracuse (Big East)
2008-09 Bill Self, Kansas (Big 12)
2007-08 Keno Davis, Drake (Missouri Valley)
2006-07 Tony Bennett, Washington State (Pac-10)
2005-06 Roy Williams, North Carolina (ACC)
2004-05 Bruce Weber, Illinois (Big Ten)
2003-04 Phil Martelli, St. Joseph’s (Atlantic 10)
2002-03 Tubby Smith, Kentucky (SEC)
2001-02 Ben Howland, Pittsburgh (Big East)
2000-01 Al Skinner, Boston College (Big East)
1999-00 Larry Eustacy, Iowa State (Big 12)
1998-99 Cliff Ellis, Auburn (SEC)
1997-98 Tom Izzo, Michigan State (Big Ten)
1996-97 Clem Haskins, Minnesota (Big Ten)
1995-96 Gene Keady, Purdue (Big Ten)
1994-95 Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma (Big 8)
1993-94 Charlie Spoonhour, Saint Louis (Great Midwest)
1992-93 Eddie Fogler, Vanderbilt (SEC)
1991-92 Perry Clark, Tulane (Metro)
1990-91 Randy Ayers, Ohio State (Big Ten)
1989-90 Roy Williams, Kansas (Big 8)
1988-89 Bob Knight, Indiana (Big Ten)
1987-88 John Chaney, Temple (Atlantic 10)
1986-87 John Chaney, Temple (Atlantic 10)
1985-86 Dick Versace, Bradley (Missouri Valley)
1984-85 Lou Carnesecca, St. John’s (Big East)
1983-84 Gene Keady, Purdue (Big Ten)
1982-83 Lou Carnesecca, St. John’s (Big East)
1981-82 John Thompson, Georgetown (Big East)
1980-81 Ralph Miller, Oregon State (Pac-10)
1979-80 Ray Meyer, DePaul (Independent)
1978-79 Dean Smith, North Carolina (ACC)
1977-78 Ray Meyer, DePaul (Independent)
1976-77 Eddie Sutton, Arkansas (Southwest)
1975-76 Johnny Orr, Michigan (Big Ten)
1974-75 Bob Knight, Indiana (Big Ten)
1973-74 Norm Sloan, N.C. State (ACC)
1972-73 John Wooden, UCLA (Pac-8)
1971-72 John Wooden, UCLA (Pac-8)
1970-71 John Wooden, UCLA (Pac-8)
1969-70 John Wooden, UCLA (Pac-8)
1968-69 Maury John, Drake (Missouri Valley)
1967-68 Guy Lewis, Houston (Independent)
1966-67 John Wooden, UCLA (AAWU)
1965-66 Adolph Rupp, Kentucky (SEC)
1964-65 Butch Van Breda Kolff, Princeton (Ivy League)
1963-64 John Wooden, UCLA (AAWU)
1962-63 Ed Jucker, Cincinnati (Missouri Valley)
1961-62 Fred Taylor, Ohio State (Big Ten)
1960-61 Fred Taylor, Ohio State (Big Ten)
1959-60 Pete Newell, California (AAWU)
1958-59 Eddie Hickey, Marquette (Independent)