HOPEWELL, N.J. (March 7, 2024) — Her Hoop Stats is proud to announce the five finalists for the 2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award. This is the inaugural season of the award, and the award is named after the legendary former Harvard head coach. This year's finalists include coaches from five conferences. 
 
Finalists (Alphabetical order by school):

• Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield
• Vanessa Blair-Lewis, George Mason
• Lisa Fortier, Gonzaga
• Kevin Borseth, Green Bay
• Lindy La Rocque, UNLV

The Blair-Lewis File
It has been an exceptional turn around for the Patriots, as just three seasons ago, Mason went 0-14 in Atlantic 10 play. The turn-around has been led by head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis, who arrived prior to the 2021-22 season, and led the Patriots to their first 20-win season since 2017-18, and the seventh 20-win season of Blair-Lewis' career. It was a historic regular season for the Patriots as they set a new single-season record for Atlantic 10 victories with 14 and the regular season win record with 23 wins. The Patriots lost just four Atlantic 10 games during the regular season, marking the fewest since they joined the conference in the 2013-14 season. The team earned the No. 4 seed and a double-bye into the Quarterfinal round after being picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll. 
 
Additionally, Blair-Lewis coached three Patriots to postseason honors as Sonia Smith earned A-10 Most Improved Player and First Team honors, Zahirah Walton earned Rookie of the Year, Third Team and All-Rookie honors and Kennedy Harris was named to the All-Rookie Team. The trio of players are the first to earn All-Conference postseason honors in the same year since George Mason joined the Atlantic 10. It is also the first time since 2001 that three separate players have picked up postseason honors in the same season, when all-time greats Jen Surlus, Jen Derevjenik and Tish Wescott were awarded All-CAA postseason awards.
 
Award Eligibility & Schedule 
To be eligible for the award, coaches must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be "mid-major." The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award, and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC. Interim head coaches are eligible, although total games coached will be taken into consideration. 
 
The 20-person preseason watch list was announced in November. The 10-coach midseason watch list was announced in March. The winner will be named on the afternoon of April 3. Coaches will be assessed throughout the entire season, including postseason play. Beyond on-court success, other factors such as recruiting, preseason expectations, injuries, and tactical coaching will also be weighed when assessing each candidate. Inclusion on previous watch lists is not a requirement to be considered for future watch lists. 
 
About Kathy Delaney-Smith
Delaney-Smith's Harvard teams compiled a record of 630-434 (.592) in her 40-year career, including a 367-168 (.685) record in Ivy League play. Delaney-Smith's 630 wins rank 31st in Division I history, and ninth among coaches who spent their entire career with a single team.
Delaney-Smith led her teams to six NCAA Tournament appearances and nine WNIT appearances, plus three Ivy League titles before the NCAA Tournament awarded automatic bids to the Ivy League champion. She has coached eight Ivy League Player of the Year recipients, six Ivy League Rookie of the Year winners, and all 22 of Harvard's 1,000-point scorers in the program's NCAA Division I history.
 
Delaney-Smith was inducted into the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1986, becoming the first woman to ever be inducted, with more than three decades of her career still ahead of her. She was also inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
A native of Newton, Mass., Delaney-Smith is also among the most accomplished high school players and coaches in the state's history. She was the first woman in state history to score 1,000 points while at Sacred Heart High School. As a high school coach, Delaney-Smith coached Westwood High School to an overall record of 204-31 across 11 seasons, including a 96-game winning streak.
 
About Her Hoop Stats
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. We began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game providing content through our newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).