Van Eman, Otzelberger, McKnight, Hays to Receive NABC Guardians of the Game Awards

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today the recipients of the 2020-21 NABC Guardians of the Game Pillar Awards, representing the association’s core values of advocacy, education, inclusion, leadership and service.
 
A total of eight NABC member coaches will be honored including Colorado head Tad Boyle for advocacy; Leonard Hamilton, head coach at Florida State, for education; Michigan associate head coach Phil Martelli for leadership; Saint Francis University head coach Rob Krimmel and Georgia Tech assistant coach Eric Reveno for service.
 
Three coaches will share the Guardians of the Game Award for inclusion: Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker, Kentucky head coach John Calipari and Frank Martin, head coach at South Carolina.
 
This group of eight will receive their awards on Friday, April 2, during the AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show.  The show is the finale of the 2021 NABC Convention, being conducted this year on a virtual platform due to the pandemic.  The NABC holds it convention each year in conjunction with the NCAA Men’s Final Four.
 
The show will be broadcast live on Stadium (watchstadium.com) beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
 
 
ADVOCACY – presented by CoPeace
Tad Boyle, head coach – University of Colorado
 
Having demonstrated a passion for the stewardship of men’s college basketball, Boyle’s commitment to the game goes beyond coaching the Buffs, serving as the Pac-12 congressman for the NABC and as the chair of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee.
 
Under the guidance and leadership of Boyle, the committee has moved the three-point line from 20-feet, nine inches to 22-feet, 1.75 inches; added video review of any goaltending/basket interference in the last two minutes and OT; and increased the flow of the game by resetting the shot clock from 30 to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound.
 
Boyle’s Buffs earned a No. 5 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
 
 
EDUCATION
Leonard Hamilton, head coach – Florida State University
 
The first in his family to earn a college degree, Hamilton has always been cognizant of the values of education. The academic success of teams coached by Hamilton extends back to 1988 and runs through Oklahoma State, Miami and since 2002, Florida State.  More than 95 percent of Hamilton’s players during that time have earned their degrees.
 
This year, Hamilton’s Seminoles are the No. 4 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.
 
 
LEADERSHIP
Phil Martelli, associate head coach – University of Michigan
 
One of the most vocal and passionate advocates for men’s college basketball, Martelli is now in his second season at Michigan after a long and distinguished career as the head coach at Saint Joseph’s.  As a board member and NABC past president, Martelli was a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Ethics Coalition, served on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and several other NABC ad hoc committees.
 
Martelli was also instrumental with Coaches vs. Cancer, a collaboration of the NABC and the American Cancer Society, having served as council chairman for a dozen years.
 
Michigan is the top seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.
 
 
SERVICE – presented by CoPeace
Rob Krimmel, head coach – Saint Francis University
 
Krimmel has spent more than half his life at Saint Francis in Loretto, Pa., as a player and coach, making a significant impact on the university and the community.  For eight seasons prior to the pandemic, Krimmel has been a champion for the NABC Stay In To Win program, presented to middle school aged children with a focus on student success and dropout prevention.
 
The Red Flash also joined TEAM IMPACT, a national nonprofit that connects children facing serious and chronic illnesses with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes.  Its mission is to improve the quality of life for those children by establishing and expanding vibrant team-based support networks. Saint Francis signed 12-year old Jorden McClure, afflicted with Larsen’s Syndrome, a disorder of the development of the bones and have had him as a team member through his senior year of high school.
 
 
SERVICE – presented by CoPeace
Eric Reveno, associate head coach – Georgia Tech
 
Struck by the civil unrest and racial injustice last summer and in a meeting with his team members, Reveno had the revelation that college athletes needed to take action and one way to do that was to become more involved in national and local elections. Over many months, Reveno reached out to his coaching colleagues across America and the #AllVoteNoPlay campaign was launched, eventually leading to the establishment of deferral Election Day as a required day off from practice and competition.
 
Through Reveno’s leadership, basketball coaches from all levels joined forces with the NABC and the All IN Campus Democracy Challenge to help student-athletes register and educate themselves on the voting process with many campus arenas used as polling places.
 
 
INCLUSION
Tommy Amaker, head coach – Harvard University; John Calipari, head coach – University of Kentucky; Frank Martin, head coach – University of South Carolina
 
On June 1, 2020, John Calipari paused his podcast after 20 weeks to help launch the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, named for Hall of Fame and ground-breaking coach John McLendon.  He recruited Amaker and Martin, both members of the NABC Committee on Racial Reconciliation to join him.  His idea was to recruit minority candidates, known as MLI Future Leaders, to be able to jumpstart their careers through practical experiences and opportunities to build their network while instilling the values of John McLendon: Integrity, Education, Leadership and Mentorship.
 
The initiative has drawn coaches across America to be engaged in the process.  Most are men’s basketball coaches, and many have teamed with other coaches in other sports on their campuses to participate.  These coaches provide the funding for minority candidates to be employed in athletic administrative positions for one year.