Northwestern University Athletics
Joe McKeown to Receive WBCA Victory Club Honor
3/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown will be presented with a Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Award Victory Club award at the fifth annual WBCA Awards Show on Monday, April 6 in Tampa.
McKeown, who recently completed his seventh season at the helm for the Wildcats, entered the season needing three wins to reach 600 for his career. As fate would have it, Northwestern was 2-0 heading into a showdown on Nov. 21 against the head coach's alma mater, Kent State. Chicago's Big Ten Team won that game, 72-54, to help secure the milestone triumph. Below is a video tribute that was shown to McKeown in a postgame ceremony following the historic win:
In addition to the 600th win of his career, McKeown reached a milestone win for his time in Evanston. The 'Cats thrashed Wisconsin on New Year's Day, 68-46, to help their coach notch his 100th victory at Northwestern.
The Wildcats recorded 23 wins in total this season, the most since the 1995-96 season. The team won 12 Big Ten games during the regular season, plus an additional in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. No Northwestern team had won at least 12 games since the 1992-93 squad.
McKeown helped guide the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997. He also helped NU achieve its first-ever ranking in the USA Today coaches top-25 poll and its first in the Associated Press rankings since 1996. Northwestern also posted two separate winning streaks of eight games or more for the first time since the 1978-79 season.
The WBCA Victory Club Award is presented annually to each WBCA-member head coach who achieves career wins of 200, 300, 400, 500 or more, in 100-victory increments, during the current season.
McKeown, and several other accomplished coaches, will be formally recognized during the Fifth Annual WBCA Awards Show, which will be held at 4:30 p.m. CT Monday, April 6, in Tampa. This event is part of the WBCA National Convention and is held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women's Final Four®. NU senior Alex Cohen will also be recognized at that event for her inclusion on the 2015 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team.
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