MIAMI (FL) — The five finalists for the 2010 Red Auerbach College Coach of the Year Award were announced on Monday.

Three of the finalists, Josh Pastner (Memphis), Keith Dambrot (Akron) and Brad Greenberg (Radford), lead their teams to second place conference finishes during the regular season. Two of the finalists, Bruce Pearl (Tennessee) and Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech) coached their teams to third place regular season finishes in the SEC and ACC respectively.

Bruce Pearl lead the Tennessee Vols to a 25-8 regular season record, punctuated by wins against #1 Kansas and #2 Kentucky, the first time since the 1976-77 season Tennessee has defeated two top-five teams in the same season. The Vols received a #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Seth Greenberg guided the Virginia Tech Hokies to their best record (23-8) under his tenure. Highlight wins included: North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest and out of conference opponents Iowa, Penn State and Georgia. The Hokies received a #1 seed to the NIT.

Josh Pastner, in his first year as head coach of the Memphis Tigers, directed the team with a depleted roster to a 23-9 overall record in Conference USA and a 2nd place finish. The Tigers garnered a #3 seed in the NIT.

Keith Dambrot lead the Akron Zips to a 24-10 record in the Middle American Conference, which was highlighted by 2nd place regular season conference finish and a run to the MAC title game. The Zips received a bid to the 2010 College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

Brad Greenberg, in his 3rd season at Radford, coached the Highlanders to a 19-12 overall record in the Big South. The season was highlighted by wins against league foe and conference champion Coastal Carolina and a season sweep of Big South NCAA tournament representative Winthrop.

The Red Auerbach Award is given annually to the nation’s top Jewish college coach, as voted on by the members of the Jewish Coaches Association (JCA). The winner will be presented with the award at the Final Four in Indianapolis.

In 2010 the Jewish Coaches Association named its college coach of the year award after Red Auerbach, the coaching legend who won 938 games (a record at his retirement) and nine National Basketball Association (NBA) championships as a coach. As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles, for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years, making him one of the most successful team officials ever in the history of professional sports.

2010 RED AUERBACH AWARD FINALISTS

Bruce Pearl - University of Tennessee
Seth Greenberg - Virigina Tech University
Josh Pastner - University of Memphis
Keith Dambrot - Akron University
Brad Greenberg - Radford University

The Jewish Coaches Association (JCA) will host its annual meeting at Shapiro’s Delicatessen - Downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, April 3 at 9:45am. Please join us as we celebrate Passover and the 2009-10 season over breakfast at one of the nation’s best Jewish Delis!

All are welcome!

Shapiro’s Downtown
808 S Meridian St
Indianapolis, IN 46225
317.631.4041

By: Brian ‘Shifty’ Schiff

In the NCAA Tournament:

Tennessee:

Bruce Pearl, Head Coach

USA Open Maccabiah ’09 (Head Coach)

Steven Pearl – 27 games, 10.7 min, 1. 4 pts, 1. 3 rebounds

USA Open Maccabiah ’09

Villanova:

Jason Donnelly: Assistant Coach

UC Santa Barbara:

Jordan Weiner — started 10 games, 14.3 minutes, 3.0 pts

Siena:

Adam Chaskin, Assistant Coach

Greater Washington Maccabi; USA Open Maccabiah ‘97

Duke:

Jon Scheyer — started all 34 games, 36.6 min, 18.6 pts, 3.6 reb, 1^st team all ACC, 2^nd team Sporting News All American

Syracuse:

Bernie Fine: Associate Head Coach

USA Open Maccabiah ’93 (Head Coach)

Pitt:

Jordan Marks: Assistant Video Coordinator

USA Youth Maccabiah ’09

Temple:

Carmel Bouchman

Florida:

Larry Shyatt: Associate Head Coach

Rod Tishman

California:

Gregg Gottlieb: Assistant Coach

Cornell:

Jon Jaques: 6.9 pts, 2.6 reb

Los Angeles Maccabi

Eitan Chemerinski

Greater Washington (DC) Maccabi

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Here is news on Jewish College Players who had impact years:

Bryan Cohen, Bucknell

Philly Maccabi; USA Juniors Maccabiah ’05; USA Open Maccabiah ’09.

A sophomore, Bryan was named the 2010 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. He started 28 of 31 games, averaged 29.5 minutes, 8.8 pts and 3.4 rebounds.

Jake Cohen, Davidson

Philly Maccabi 2007

A freshman, Jake was named the 2010 Media Southern Conference Rookie of the Year. He started 24 of 31 games, played 22.7 minutes, led Davidson in scoring with 13.3 pts, and was 2^nd in rebounding with 5.1 boards.

Derek Glasser, Arizona State

Los Angeles Maccabi

Glasser started 30 of 32 games, played 32. 8 minutes, scored 10.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists

Alex Rubin, Illinois State

St Paul Maccabi; USA Juniors Maccabiah ‘05

Alex started 30 of 32 games, averaged 27 minutes, 5.0 pts & 1.5 rebounds

Zach Rosen, Pennsylvania

Clifton (NJ) Maccabi; USA Open Maccabiah ’09

Zach was named 1^st team all Ivy and led the Ivy league in scoring. He started 27 of 28 games, played 37.1 minutes, scored 17.7 pts, 3.3 rebounds and registered 124 assists.

Michael Gruner, Lafayette

Greater Washington (DC) Maccabi; USA Youth Maccabiah ’05

Michael started all 32 games, played 24.9 minutes and averaged 7.0 points and 2.7 rebounds

Jared Mintz, Lafayette

Toronto Maccabi; Maccabi Canada Juniors ’05 and Youth ’07.

Jared started 29 of 31 games, played 27.7 minutes and led the team in scoring with 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds.

Brett Harvey, Loyola (Md)

USA Open Maccabiah ’09

Brett started 22 of 27 games, played 29.5 minutes and led the team in scoring with 12.7 points and 2.7 rebounds.

Mitchell Kates, MIT

Monmouth Maccabi; USA Juniors Maccabiah ‘05

Mitchell was the New England Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year. He started all 27 games, played 33.0 minutes, scored 13.2 points and tallied 112 assists.

Travis Warech, Saint Michael’s

MetroWest Maccabi; USA Juniors Maccabi (Chile ’07); USA Youth Maccabiah ‘09

Travis was named to the Northeast-10 Conference all rookie team. Stared all 25 games, played 33.2 minutes and led the team in scoring with 16.8 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Richie Polan, NYU

Los Angeles Maccabi; USA Juniors Maccabiah ‘05

Richie played 21.7 minutes, averaged 9.2 points and led the team in rebounding with 7.4 per game.

FYI: Bryan Cohen, Alex Rubin, Mitchell Kates and Richie Polan all were members of the 2005 USA Junior Maccabiah team.