March 30, 2012

MATT NEIL WINS THE 2012 GLENN ROBINSON AWARD

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Hope College's Matt Neil is recipient of the 2012 Glenn Robinson National Coach of the Year.

Under the guidance of Neil, Hope College was ranked first in the nation for most of the season. The Flying Dutchmen won 23 consecutive games en route to a 27-2 record highlighted by a conference championship and appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament.

"In just two seasons Coach Neil has made Hope College a force to be reckoned with at the division III level," said Angela Lento, co-founder of CollegeInsider.com. "For Coach Neil, Hope College is home and he is a building a nice foundation for the future."

A standout Hope player in the early 1980s and a member of the Hope coaching staff since 1985, Neil was also named the NCAA Division III Great Lakes District Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

The award is presented annually to the top division III men's basketball coach. Name after the longtime Franklin & Marshall coach, Robinson has over 800 wins and is currently twelfth on the all-time wins list. He has taken F&M to NCAA Division III tournament 22 times. Robinson guided the Diplomats to the Division III Final Four in 1979, 1991, 1996, 2000 and 2009. This season, he picked up his 23rd 21-plus win season.

The award was presented at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in New Orleans, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.

2012 GLENN ROBINSON AWARD FINALISTS

Larry Anderson	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jeff Brown	Middlebury College
Ken DeWeese	University of Mary Hardin Baylor
David Hixon	Amherst College
Marcus Kahn	Cabrini College
Brian Lane	Transylvania University
Pat Miller	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Mitch Oliver	Albertus Magnus College
Matt Neil	Hope College
Ken Scalmanini	Claremont Mudd Scripps