North Carolina State University Athletics
Wes Moore Named A Finalist for 2021 Naismith Coach of the Year
3/16/2021 12:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA – NC State women's basketball head coach Wes Moore has been named one of four finalists for the 2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Award, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Tuesday. He was previously a finalist for the award in 2019 and was also a semifinalist in 2020.
While his Wolfpack squad has consistently achieved at a level of excellence, Moore has led his 2020-21 squad to a multitude of firsts in what continues to be a historic campaign for NC State women's basketball.
Moore most recently guided his Wolfpack squad to back-to-back ACC Tournament titles, marking the program's first time winning consecutive titles at the conference championship. The victory over top-seeded Louisville also secured NC State's sixth-straight 20+ win season under Moore's leadership.
His team, which has compiled a 20-2 overall record thus far, earned a No. 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. It marks the first top seed for NC State in its 26 NCAA Tournament appearances.
NC State's head coach was named ACC Coach of the Year in a vote by his peers after putting together an incredible regular season. He authored two victories over the nation's top-ranked teams, making his squad the first program in the last 20 years to earn two AP No. 1 wins on the road in a single season. Moore also helped his team compile a perfect 11-0 record inside Reynolds Coliseum, joining the 1977-78 squad as the only Wolfpack teams to end their years unbeaten at home.
HIs team has spent every week of the season ranked in the national top 10 and the last 13 weeks in the top five. Recently, NC State checked in at No. 3 in the final Associated Press Top 25, tying with the 1977-78 squad as the best final AP ranking in program history.
In the midst of his eighth season at NC State, Moore has compiled a 188-64 (.746) record while serving as the leader of the Pack. He owns 746 career wins, which ranks eighth among active NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches.
Beginning March 19, fans may show support for their favorite finalist by visiting naismithfanvote.com to cast a ballot for the Coach of the Year and Men's and Women's College Player of the Year awards. The fan vote accounts for five percent of the overall final vote. The 2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year will then be announced on April 2.
The four finalists were chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's national voting academy, comprised of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, former award winners and conference commissioners, all of whom base their selections on outstanding on-court coaching performances during the 2020-21 regular college basketball season.
Moore and the Wolfpack are set to open NCAA Tournament action as a No. 1 seed against 16th-seeded North Carolina A&T on Sunday, March 21 at 4 p.m.
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