HOPEWELL, N.J. (January 22, 2025) — Her Hoop Stats has announced the 10-person mid-season watch list for the 2025 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats including George Mason women's basketball head coach, Vanessa Blair-Lewis. This is the second season of the award, named after the legendary former Harvard head coach, and the second season Blair--Lewis has been on the watch list. This year's watch list includes coaches from seven conferences, including two from the Atlantic 10.
Mid-Season Watch List (Listed alphabetically)
Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield
Vanessa Blair-Lewis, George Mason
Carrie Moore, Harvard
Larry Vickers, Norfolk St.
Carla Berube, Princeton
Tricia Fabbri, Quinnipiac
Aaron Roussell, Richmond
Aaron Johnston, South Dakota St.
Lindy La Rocque, UNLV
Karen Aston, UTSA
The Blair-Lewis File
Head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis has coached the 2024-25 Patriots to the best start in program history at 11-1. With wins against teams in the Big East and ACC, the Green & Gold currently stand at 15-3, 5-2 in A-10 Play. Blair-Lewis was named to Posther Hoops' 12 Most Impressive Mid-Season Coach Jobs list back in December.
In 2023-24, Blair-Lewis coached the Patriots to one of the most successful seasons in George Mason women's basketball history. In just her third season at George Mason, Blair-Lewis helped the Patriots to a 23-8 record, 14-4 in Atlantic 10 play, the first 20+ win season since 2017-18. In every season since arriving, Blair-Lewis has increased the Patriots' win total, while the team set program records in regular-season wins and Atlantic 10 regular season wins with 23 and 14, respectively. In her three seasons with the Green & Gold, Blair-Lewis has coached four All-A-10 postseason award winners, including last year's Most Improved Player, Sonia Smith, and Rookie of the Year, Zahirah Walton. She was recognized for her efforts by being named a Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year finalist at the end of the 2023-24 season.
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, and SEC. Additionally, Oregon State and Washington State are ineligible this year as membership in the Pac-12 Conference evolves. Interim head coaches are eligible, although total games coached will be taken into consideration.
The 20-person preseason watch list was announced in October. The five finalists for the award will be announced in March, with the winner being named around the Final Four. 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 32nd 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, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram).
