Augusta State’s Metress Named Southeast Region Coach of the Year

AUGUSTA, Ga.—Augusta State head men’s basketball coach Dip Metress has been named the Southeast Region’s Coach Of The Year by the NABC.

Metress, who recently completed his fifth season at the helm of the Jaguar men’s basketball program, guided ASU to the winningest season in school history in 2008-09. The Jaguars cracked the 30-win plateau for the first time in school history, posting a 30-5 record that included a 16-game winning streak, the second-longest in school history.

The honor is the second in the last three seasons for Metress, who was tabbed the South Atlantic Region Coach Of The Year at the end of the 2006-07 season. 

Under Metress, ASU claimed the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship and the PBC Tournament title as well as the NCAA Southeast Regional. For the third consecutive season, the Jags hosted an NCAA Regional event after earning the regional’s No. 1 seed.

ASU made its second straight trip to the NCAA Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., and advanced to the Final Four before falling to national runnerup Cal Poly Pomona. 

The Jags, who earned the highest national ranking in school history at No. 3, spent the entire season ranked among the nation’s top 25, including 14 weeks in the top 10. ASU has appeared in 35 consecutive national polls dating back to the 2006-07 season. 

Located in Kansas City, Mo., the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith—the inventor of basketball—organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently claims nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. 

All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at http://www.nabc.com.