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| JAMES STINSON |
In the six seasons since taking over as head coach of Harvard's century-old men's basketball program, Amaker has reinvented the Crimson into an Ivy League and regional power. He has directed Harvard to a period of unprecedented prosperity in the form of back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, three consecutive Ivy League championships and four 20-win seasons in a row.
Amaker's 2012-13 Crimson squad—New England's only representative in the NCAA tournament—was the talk of the nation after knocking off third-seeded New Mexico, but his Harvard teams have long been making headlines, with each season bringing more program milestones. Some of the highlights:
- 112-66 record (.639 win percentage), including an Ivy League-best 90-30 (.750) the last four seasons
- 54-30 Ivy League record (.642), including an Ivy League-best 45-11 (.804) the last four seasons
- First three Ivy League championships in school history (2011, '12, '13)
- Consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (2012, '13), including Harvard's first since 1946
- Four straight seasons with 20 wins and a postseason appearance
- Harvard's first appearance in a major national poll, ranking as high as No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll
- The four highest single-season wins totals in program history (26-5 in 2011-12, 23-7 in 2010-11, 21-8 in 2009-10 and 20-10 in 2012-13)
A 1987 graduate of Duke with a bachelor's degree in economics, Amaker was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1987 NBA draft. He is a former member of the board of directors for USA Basketball and was a member of the Men's Collegiate and Men's Senior National Committees with USA Basketball, where he helped select members of the gold-medal-winning 1996 U.S. Olympic team.
Stinson's recently-completed ninth season as head coach at Livingstone was the best in Blue Bears' history. The Blue Bears won their first CIAA Southern Division Championship, set a school record for most wins (22), reached the championship game of the CIAA Tournament, and qualified for their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
In 2010-11, the men's team broke another barrier by winning the CIAA's highest GPA award and advancing to the CIAA championship game for the first time in school history. Stinson was named CIAA Coach of the Year, and former Mayor Susan Kluttz proclaimed March 9, 2011, Livingstone Men's Basketball Day in the City of Salisbury.
Prior to his tenure at Livingstone, Stinson coached at his alma mater, Barber-Scotia College, where he brought much needed discipline and fire to the Barber-Scotia men's basketball program. Stinson organized outreach campus programs, spoke at various churches and gave free basketball clinics. Stinson also spent four years as a NAIA Division I basketball rater.
While at Barber-Scotia College, Stinson led the Sabers to eight 20-win seasons, four regular season championships, three EIAC tournament championships and two NAIA Elite Eight appearances.
Stinson was voted Coach of the Year three times and was a three-time EIAC Top Tournament Coach.
Stinson accepted a basketball scholarship to Barber-Scotia in 1983. He was named All-Conference in the EIAC in 1985-86 and was named to the Dean's list from 1985-1987. He earned his degree in 1987.
The Gaines Awards will be presented as part of the 53rd Annual NSSA Awards Banquet, June 11th, at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC.
CLARENCE E. “BIG HOUSE” GAINES
The Gaines Awards are named for legendary Winston-Salem State University head men's basketball coach Clarence 'Big House' Gaines. During 47 seasons as WSSU's head coach, Gaines's teams won 828 games, including the 1967 NCAA Division Two national championship (the first team from a historically black college or university to do so). A former President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Gaines was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He died in 2005.
**Courtesy of National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association & Hall of Fame (NSSA)
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