LOS ANGELES - San Diego State men’s basketball head coach Steve Fisher will receive the John R. Wooden Award’s Legends of Coaching honor tonight at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The presentation is part of the 39th Annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s, which will be televised on ESPN2 beginning at 5 p.m. PT.
The official announcement, made by Wooden’s daughter, Nan Wooden, took place last October at the annual Los Angeles Athletic Club Wooden Award Tipoff Luncheon. Adopted by the Wooden Award Steering Committee in 1999, the prestigious Legends of Coaching award recognizes coaches who exemplify Wooden’s high standards of coaching success and personal integrity. Fisher is the first coach of a Southern California school to receive the honor.
The award winners are selected based on character, success on the court, graduation rates of student-athletes, coaching philosophy and identification with the goals of the John R. Wooden Award. The first recipient was North Carolina’s Dean Smith.
In 16 seasons at SDSU, Fisher has guided the Aztecs to eight NCAA tournament appearances, 11 postseason berths overall, nine Mountain West championships and 11 seasons of at least 20 wins, including the last 10 years. More recently, the 2011 National Coach of the Year has led San Diego State to the NCAA tournament six seasons in a row, including a pair of Sweet 16 appearances the last five years in 2011 and 2014. In 2011, the Aztecs captured the MW regular-season and tournament crowns en route to a 34-3 record and nearly duplicated the effort in 2014 by winning the conference regular season and posting a 31-5 record. In 2015, San Diego State reached at least the third round of the NCAA tournament for the third straight year and won an MW-best ninth conference championship.
In addition to the Legends of Coaching Award winner, the 39th Annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s will celebrate the male and female Wooden Award recipients and All-America Teams. The festivities will also include the announcement of the Wooden Award winner.
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