Former University basketball star Rick Carlisle was named the National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year last month, after leading his Detroit Pistons to the playoffs and a Central Division title in his first year as head coach.
The former Cavalier standout got off to a hot start at 14-6, before losing 13 of 16 games, which left many people wondering if the decision by General Manager Joe Dumars to hire him was the correct one. Carlisle quickly silenced the critics, finishing the regular season on a 33-13 run, and earning a No. 2 seed in the NBA playoffs.
"This isn't an award for me," Carlisle said in a release from a press conference last month. "This is an award for our franchise. I'm humbled to win this and be among this type of basketball royalty, but I couldn't have done it without the players and the staff and their hard work."
Carlisle has been in the NBA for 16 years as a player and assistant coach, after graduating from the University in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
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The native of Ogensburg, N.Y. played two seasons with the Cavaliers after transferring from the University of Maine. He helped lead Virginia to the Final Four in 1984 as a captain, along with fellow star Ralph Sampson.
He averaged 10.3 points per game for Virginia his junior year, before averaging 11.1 points per game in the Cavaliers' last Final Four run.
Carlisle was an assistant for the Indiana Pacers before being hired by Dumars in May of 2001.
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