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Fellowship of Christian Athletes Honors Two Coaches with Kay Yow and John Lotz Awards
Colorado’s Lynn Plett Recognized with Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award and UNC’s Hubert Davis Honored with John Lotz ‘Barnabas’ Award for Leadership On and Off the Court
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—This past weekend, during the most exciting time in college basketball, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA, www.fca.org) honored two outstanding basketball coaches with awards named after close friends of FCA to recognize leadership, dedication and commitment both on and off the court.
Yesterday morning during the FCA/Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Breakfast at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Convention in Columbus, University of Colorado Springs (UCCS) head women’s basketball coach Lynn Plett was honored with the 2018 Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award.
Named for the late North Carolina State coaching icon Kay Yow, the award is presented annually by FCA to honor a basketball coach who has exemplified biblical principles over the course of his or her career. Kay Yow, who passed away from breast cancer in 2009, was presented with the inaugural award at the 2008 Women’s Final Four in Tampa.
On Saturday, the 2018 John Lotz “Barnabas” Award was presented to University of North Carolina assistant men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis at the FCA Coaches Luncheon at the National Association of Basketball Coaches Convention in San Antonio.
This award is presented annually to honor a basketball coach who best exhibits a commitment to Christ, integrity and encouragement to others, and lives a balanced life. Davis is the 16th recipient of the “Barnabas” Award, named for former North Carolina assistant and Florida head coach John Lotz.
“Lynn Plett and Hubert Davis have exemplified integrity, serving, teamwork and excellence on and off the court, and all of us at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes are honored to recognize these two excellent coaches at the most exciting time of the college basketball season,” said Shane Williamson, FCA President and CEO. “These two outstanding leaders guide their players in matters much more eternal than the game of basketball.”
Kay Yow honoree Lynn Plett led the UCCS Mountain Lions to the first RMAC championship in program history and to a third straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in his first season in 2016-17. He also coached two All-RMAC First Team student-athletes.
Within FCA, Plett is a member and leader of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes Coaches Bibles Study and has been a speaker at numerous FCA events, including an FCA clinic, coaches breakfast and coaches retreat. Under his leadership, the women on the UCCS team have thrived in many ways.
“For the first time, a team Bible study started last year and again this year,” wrote nominator Tom Dorman, Interim Southern Colorado Multi-Area Director for FCA. “(Coach Plett’s) example and insight shared with other coaches through FCA clearly display his integrity and commitment to coaching biblically.”
Lindsey Waggoner, the UCCS Women’s Basketball chaplain stated, “Coach Plett is a quiet and selfless leader. With a humble approach to learn the game of basketball, Coach Plett can often be found in his office looking over game film or the next recruit. Coach has endured many changes of addresses, many different school colors and many different basketball seasons, yet the thing that remains the same for Coach and his wife Brenda is their love for the Lord. An unwavering love for the Lord no matter what the basketball record looks like at the end of the season, that is what sets Coach Plett apart from the rest of crowd.”
Plett spent four seasons at Northern Kentucky, where the Norse qualified for the Women’s Basketball Invitational postseason tournament each season during the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. Plett also spent five seasons as the head coach at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, and his Griffons reached the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament three times. His team also ranked in the top 20 of NCAA Division II for grade point average in the 2008-09 season and he coached three All-MIAA student-athletes. Plett also served on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee from 2007-11.
From 2002-07, Plett coached at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, where his teams qualified for three NCAA Division II Tournaments. The Flyers hosted the regional championship in the 2006-07 season and were ranked as high as No. 7 nationally. He coached two All-Americans, two Great Lakes Valley Conference Players of the Year, two All-GLVC Academic Players of the Year and the program’s all-time leading scorer. He was the Region 4 and GLVC Coach of the Year in 2007 and was the conference representative for the Women’s Basketball Officials Consortium, the supervising body for officials in seven conferences including the Big Ten Conference.
Plett entered Division II coaching at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, in 1994, where he also doubled as athletic director. He won the GLVC championship and was named GLVC Coach of the Year in his first season and coached an All-American, two-time conference player of the year and a two-time NCAA Division II scoring leader. Plett served as the director for the Chicago Bull’s Basketball Camp in 2000 and 2001. As athletic director, he led programs that hosted NCAA championships in basketball, baseball, soccer and cross country.
Plett has also coached men’s basketball at Huntington College in Indiana from 1989-94, at Marymount College in Kansas from 1986-89 and at Tabor College in Kansas from 1983-86. He earned bachelor’s degrees from Tabor in 1975 and 1981, where he also played basketball and soccer. He and his wife Brenda have a son, Matt, and a daughter, Stacy.
John Lotz award winner Hubert Davis is a former Tar Heel guard, 12-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst. He has been a member of the Carolina Basketball coaching staff for five years, and his duties include bench coaching, scouting and recruiting. He also has served two seasons as the head coach of the UNC junior varsity team.
Mitch Mason, the FCA Chaplain at University of North Carolina praised Davis. “Hubert Davis is a man of integrity with a servant’s heart. He serves the Lord and impacts so many people. He and his wife Leslie mean so much to my family and I. I am extremely proud to call him my friend.”
Prior to joining the UNC staff in 2012, Davis worked for seven years with ESPN as a highly regarded college basketball analyst and co-host of “College GameDay.” The Burke, Virginia, native played in 137 games as a Tar Heel from 1988-92, during which time UNC went 102-37, won the 1989 and 1991 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournaments and played in the 1991 Final Four. He scored 1,615 points, an average of 11.8 per game, and holds the UNC record for career three-point percentage at .435. He scored in double figures 80 times and had 23 games with 20 or more points.
Davis also scored in double figures in each of his last eight NCAA Tournament games, averaging 18.5 points in those games. That included 19 against Temple in the 1991 NCAA East Regional final and 25 against Kansas in the 1991 Final Four.
Davis averaged 21.4 points and earned second-team All-ACC honors as a senior. He scored in double figures in 32 of 33 games that season, including 20 games with 20 or more points and 30 or more in four games. He netted a career-high 35 points at Duke on March 8, 1992. That 35-point game was part of a seven-game stretch late in the season in which he averaged a prolific 28.7 points.
The New York Knicks selected Davis with the 20th pick in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft. He played 12 seasons in the NBA, scoring 5,583 points, an average of 8.2 per contest. He made 728 three-point field goals and is currently third in NBA history in three-point percentage at .441.
Davis graduated from UNC in 1992 with a degree in criminal justice. He and his wife, Leslie, have three children: Elijah, Bobbie Grace and Micah. His uncle, Walter, starred at UNC from 1973-77 and was a six-time NBA All-Star with the Phoenix Suns.
Past winners of the FCA Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award include:
- 2008: Kay Yow, North Carolina State
- 2009: Jane Albright, Nevada
- 2010: Nancy Wilson, College of Charleston
- 2011: Sue Ramsey, Ashland
- 2012: Deb Patterson, Kansas State
- 2013: Sue Semrau, Florida State
- 2014: Kristy Curry, Alabama
- 2015: Matt Bollant, Illinois
- 2016: Kirk Martin, Cedarville
- 2017: Julie Goodenough, Abilene Christian
Since its launch by FCA in 2003, the “Barnabas” Award has honored the following:
- 2003: Homer Drew, Valparaiso
- 2004: John Wooden, UCLA
- 2005: Dale Clayton, Carson-Newman
- 2006: Steve Alford, Iowa
- 2007: Dale Layer, Colorado State
- 2008: Willis Wilson, Rice
- 2009: Ritchie McKay, Virginia
- 2010: Gary Waters, Cleveland State
- 2011: Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M
- 2012: Don Meyer, Northern State
- 2013: Tom Crean, Indiana
- 2014: Bob Hoffman, Mercer
- 2015: Jayson Gee, Longwood University
- 2016: Ed Schilling, UCLA
- 2017: Gregg Nibert, Presbyterian College
For more information about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, visit FCA’s website at www.fca.org, its Facebook page or its Twitter feed @fcanews. Learn more about FCA here.
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