And The Nominees Are: Coach Of The Year
04/26/16 | O Heroes, @GoDucksMoseley
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
On Monday, May 2, the UO athletic department will stage the O Show awards night in Matthew Knight Arena, hosted again by ESPN's Neil Everett.
The second annual ceremony shines a spotlight on department awards that have long been bestowed internally, providing a more public stage on which to honor UO student-athletes who are truly exceptional on and off the field. Nominations were made by UO student-athletes, and winners were selected through a vote by student-athletes and athletic department staff.
The Coach of the Year Award is given to the coach that achieves the highest finish or achieves the farthest beyond all expectations.
DANA ALTMAN, Men's basketball
Led a team picked in the preseason to finish fourth in the Pac-12 all the way to the Elite Eight. The Ducks won 20 games for the sixth straight season, and he was named Pac-12 coach of the year for the third time in four season. Won a school-record 31 games, giving him 19 straight winning seasons to rival only legends Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, Roy Williams, Bill Self and Jim Boeheim for the longest active winning streak in NCAA Division I.
KELLY GRAVES, Women's basketball
In just his second season, led the Ducks to 24 wins, one shy of the school record. Helped senior Jillian Alleyne earn third-team all-America status, and also rallied the team back from Alleyne's late-season injury to reach the semifinals of the WNIT. In November, signed the nation's No. 6-ranked recruiting class, which included four players ranked in the top 100 according to ESPN.
ROBERT JOHNSON, Track & Field
After leading the UO men and women to a sweep of the 2015 NCAA Outdoor team titles, turned around and swept them again at the 2016 NCAA Indoor championships this past March in Birmingham, Ala. In between, coached the Ducks to top-five finishes in both team races at the NCAA Cross Country championships, at which Edward Cheserek became the first male competitor in NCAA history to win three straight individual cross country titles.
RIA SCOTT, Women's golf
Recently helped the Ducks reach the NCAA Regionals for the ninth year in a row. The UO women will compete next week at Regionals in Baton Rouge, La., looking to advance to the NCAA Championships in late May at Eugene Country Club. Looking to build on a 2015 campaign in which the Ducks set a program record with a 292.66 season scoring average, and saw Caroline Inglis win the Pac-12 individual championship.
MIKE WHITE, Softball
Coach of the third-time Pac-12 champions, and a program that has reached the Women's College World Series in three of the last four years. Helped the Ducks set a program record with 21 conference victories in 2015, and has them in position to threaten that mark this spring. The UO women are 35-6 overall and 13-2 in the Pac-12 entering a series at home this weekend against Arizona.
Players Mentioned
