Lubbock, Texas - Chip Hilton Sports and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) are proud to announce Coach Brad Stevens of Butler University as the 2011 recipient of the Coach Clair Bee Award and Charles Jenkins of Hofstra University as this year's Chip Hilton Award winner.
Three of the nation's premier basketball coaches and four outstanding graduating players were named as finalists for the fifteenth annual prestigious Clair Bee and Chip Hilton Awards, to be presented by Chip Hilton Sports and the NABC during the Final Four.
The Chip Hilton Award honors a Division I graduating senior men's player for demonstrating outstanding character, leadership, and talent similar to the qualities evident in the 24-book Chip Hilton Sports Series. The books, authored by Coach Clair Bee, enjoyed their first popularity in the late 1940s through the mid-1960s and were updated and re-released by Randy and Cindy Farley to a new generation of readers in 1999.
The graduating finalists for the Chip Hilton Award were: James "Jimmer" Fredette (Brigham Young University), Charles Jenkins (Hofstra University), Robert "Robo" Kreps (University Illinois Chicago), and Andy Polka (Loyola University Chicago).
Jenkins averaged 22.6 points per game this season, ranking him sixth in the country, while finishing his career with 2,513 points. He became just the 63rd player in NCAA history to score 2,500 points in a career, and finished second in Colonial Athletic Association history behind David Robinson of Navy.
Jenkins was a third-team All-American selection by Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, and CBS Sports.com, earned honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press, and was the CAA Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Jenkins' efforts helped the Pride to a 21-12 record and a 14-4 finish in the CAA, tying it for second, which marked the program's highest finish since joining the league in 2001-02.
Hofstra's Director of Athletics Jack Hayes, noted, "Charles has visited children's hospitals, participated in reading programs at local elementary schools, volunteered at the St. John's Home for Boys in Far Rockaway, New York, and has spoken at numerous youth basketball clinics. In 20 years in this business, I have never seen a student-athlete get more from his or her college experience than Charles."
Coach Clair F. Bee, the late Long Island University coach and Hall of Famer, compiled an .826 lifetime winning percentage, still the best in major-college coaching history. Known as the "Innovator", Clair Bee's influence on the game also extended to strategies such as the 1-3-1 zone defense and the 3-second rule, sports camps at Oriental, Manhattan, and Brighton beaches as well as Camp All-America and Kutsher's Sports Academy, writing technical coaching books, and conducting coaching clinics around the world.
By the time he left coaching in the 1950s, Clair Bee had already begun writing the Chip Hilton Sports Series, considered the top sports fiction series ever written. Chip Hilton Sports began presenting the two awards in 1997 as a way to honor outstanding excellence and character in college basketball.
The Selection Committee is composed of: Dan Beebe, Jay Bilas, Dave Gavitt, Bob Hammel, Bob Knight, Pat Knight, Billy Packer, Dean Smith, and Dick Vitale.
Coach Steve Donahue was the 2010 Clair Bee Award winner. The 2010 Chip Hilton Award winner was Roman Martinez of the University of New Mexico.
Chip Hilton Award Winners:
2011 - Charles Jenkins, Hofstra
2010 - Roman Martinez, New Mexico
2009 - Jon Brockman, Washington
2008 - Mike Green, Butler
2007 - Acie Law IV, Texas A&M
2006 - Gerry McNamara, Syracuse
2005 - Ronald Ross, Texas Tech
2004 - Emeka Okafor, Connecticut
2003 - Brandon Miller, Butler
2002 - Juan Dixon, Maryland
2001 - Shane Battier, Duke
2000 - Eduardo Nájera, Oklahoma
1999 - Tim Hill, Harvard
1998 - Hassan Booker, Navy
1997 - Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
