Staff
Tony
SHAVER Head Coach • Ninth Season at W&M • North Carolina (1976) When Tony Shaver accepted the head coaching position at William and Mary in May of 2003, he set his sights on making the Tribe a winning program. Fast-forward eight years and the two-time CAA Coach of the Year and National Mid-Major Coach of the Year finalist has led a revival of the Green and Gold program. In 2009-10, he once again took W&M to the brink of its first-ever CAA title and NCAA Tournament appearance, while in the process leading the College to the third-most wins in school history and its second-ever postseason bid in the National Invitational Tournament. Shaver completed his eighth season with the College and 25th overall in 2010-11 as one of the winningest active coaches in college basketball. He ranks 29th among active Division I head coach with 455 victories, while ranking 52nd in winning percentage at .630. Shaver enters the 2011-12 season ranking second in school history in career wins with 97. Playing with one of the youngest teams in the country in 2010-11, Shaver led the Tribe to a victory at the CAA Tournament for the third time in the last four years. After advancing to the CAA Championship game in 2008 and 2010, the College downed James Madison, 72-68, in the opening round in 2011 to earn a spot in the league quarterfinals. For the second time in the three seasons, Shaver was named the CAA Coach of the Year in 2010 by a vote of the league coaches, SIDs and media, while also being named a finalist for the CollegeInsider.com Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year. Shaver also received National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 10 and Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) State Coach of the Year honors, while leading the Tribe to an impressive 22-11 record and the program’s second CAA Championship Game appearance in three seasons. Under Shaver’s direction, the Tribe set or equaled a number of school records in 200910 and achieved milestones that few Mid-Major programs in America have accomplished. W&M ranked ninth nationally with a school-record 10 road wins. The College also tied program bests with a 10-game winning streak, the longest at the institution since 192930, and the best start in school history at 14-3. W&M received votes in both the ESPN/ USA Today and Associated Press National Top 25 polls for seven straight weeks, marking the first votes for the Tribe in more than 30 years. The Tribe also garnered its first-ever CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 ranking. W&M was ranked in each of the final 15 weeks of the poll, including a best ranking of No. 8, before finishing the year at No. 20. The Green and Gold became the first team ever to win a November game at Joel Coliseum over Wake Forest, 78-68, on Nov. 28 and the first unranked non-BCS school to win at the facility. The Tribe was also the only team to win at ACC regular season co-champion Maryland in 2009-10, downing the Terrapins, 83-77, on Dec. 30. W&M became the first CAA team since the establishment of the league to win two ACC road games in the same season. The Tribe also became just the sixth non-BCS school to win two ACC road games in the same season since the ACC was established in 1953. W&M finished 2010 in third place in the CAA standings with the second-most league wins in school history (12). The Tribe was at its best in close games during the 2009-10 season. The College was 10-4 in games decided by three or fewer points, including a season-record 5-1 mark in one-point contests. On the strength of its 60 RPI and wins over six RPI top 80 teams (three over RPI top 40 squads), the Tribe earned a bid to the NIT, marking only the second postseason appearance in school history. Despite falling to North Carolina in a game televised nationally, W&M set a school record with 16 3-pointers and led UNC, 72-69, with just over three minutes remaining in the contest. The Tribe’s 16 3-pointers against the Tar Heels was a signature of the entire W&M season. The Green and Gold hit a school and then-CAA record 295 3-pointers during the year. The Tribe ranked eighth nationally at 8.9 3-pointers per game. It marked the fourth-straight season in which W&M hit 200-plus 3-pointers. Along with its success on the court, Tribe players have done their work in the classroom as well under Shaver. In 2010, W&M had a team grade point average of nearly 3.0 at one of the toughest academic institutions in the country. Three of the Tribe’s five starters were named to the CAA All-Academic team in 2010. The Tribe set a program record with four CAA All-Academic Team honorees this past season in 2011. Shaver has also enjoyed success in recruiting. ESPN.com and Scouts, Inc., rated the Tribe’s 2010 recruiting class of Julian Boatner, Brandon Britt, Fred Heldring and Tim Rusthoven as one of the top mid-major classes in the country. ESPN and Scouts, Inc., also listed the quartet as the top group in the CAA. The group ended their rookie seasons as the highest scoring class in the league, tallying 33.2 percent from the Tribe’s points in 2010-
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• 2011-12 William and Mary Men’s Basketball