Two highly-deserved recipients, chosen by the USBWA.
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At the Women’s Final Four later this year, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) will honor two different people with one thing in common: growing the college game for women no matter the circumstances.
The organization announced the winners of two annual awards earlier this week. Hampton University head coach David Six has been honored with the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award, while ACC senior associate commissioner Nora Lynn Finch will receive the Mary Jo Haverbeck Award.
In his tenth season as head coach, Six has led the Lady Pirates to a 13-11 record, including a 9-4 record in Hampton’s first year in the Big South Conference. However, his biggest accomplishment in recent months has been off the court. On June 27, 2018, Six suffered a stroke while driving his wife to an appointment at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He worked hard over the summer to recover; he was released into a rehab facility just a week after the incident before moving in with his daughter at the end of the month. Despite some doctors advising him to rest for up to a year, Six joined his team at the start of the season for a win at Florida Atlantic on November 7th. Nearly two weeks later, the Lady Pirates gave him a gift in return – a 72-65 win over James Madison, good for Six’s 200th career victory.
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“For all that Pat Summitt has done for women’s basketball, to be associated with an award that has her name is amazing,” Six said in a release from Hampton University. The USBWA named the award after the legendary Tennessee head coach after presenting Summitt with the award in 2012.
Finch will retire at the end of the 2018-19 academic year after nearly four decades working in women’s college basketball.
“Wow,” she said in a release from the USBWA. “That’s terrific. I always considered that award to be special.”
Named in honor of the late women’s sports information director at Penn State, The Mary Jo Haverbeck Award is given to an individual who helps writers cover the game.
Finch has certainly done that in many ways. She has served as the Senior Associate Commissioner/Women’s Basketball for the ACC since August 2008. Before joining the ACC, Finch spent more than 30 years at NC State. She worked alongside the late Hall of Famer Kay Yow before eventually becoming the Wolfpack’s Senior Associate Director and Senior Woman Administrator. Finch has also made strides to grow the game on the national level as part of several NCAA committees; she led the way to help change many rules for women’s college basketball, including bringing back the four-quarter format for games.
With many of her conference’s teams likely to take part in the NCAA tournament – if not the national semifinals – Finch’s last postseason should be an exciting end to a remarkable career, especially with a new honor under her belt.
Both Finch and Six will be honored at the USBWA’s news conference before the national semifinals begin in Tampa, Fla., in April.