Augusta State head men’s basketball coach Dip Metress was named the university’s Coach of the Year during the annual athletics banquet held April 30 in the Barnard Amphitheatre. This follows two additional Coach of the Year honors recently announced: the Southeast Region’s Coach Of The Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Whack Hyder State of Georgia Men’s College Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club.
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.
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.
Metress previously was tabbed the South Atlantic Region Coach Of The Year at the end of the 2006-07 season by the NABC.
Apr 12, 2009
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