Monmouth's Wilson Earns IBCA Coach of the Year Nomination Following Record Breaking Season
Monmouth, IL (04/14/2020) — Kyle Wilson's efforts guiding his Monmouth College women's basketball team to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012 has earned the fifth-year coach a nomination for the Illinois Basketball Coaches' Association (IBCA) College Coach of the Year honor.
"This isn't an individual award, it's a program award," declared Wilson. "I'm very proud of the work that our student-athletes and coaches have put in to get our program to this point. It means a lot to me to see our players' commitment to the process be rewarded with a championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament."
Wilson guided the Scots to a school-record 21 wins during the 2019-20 campaign, capped by a 74-69 come-from-behind win over Ripon, the defending Midwest Conference regular season and tournament champion. The win on the Red Hawks' home court - the season's third win over Ripon - earned Monmouth just its second trip in program history to the NCAA tournament.
The win avenged a 55-48 title tilt loss to the Red Hawks one season ago. The 2019-20 campaign completed a senior experience for MWC Player of the Year Becca Gallis, point guard Yvonne Ornelas and shooting guard Carley Turnbull that began with four wins as freshmen for Californians Gallis and Ornelas. Turnbull joined the team as a sophomore, and the Scots began to rise, with nine wins in 2017-18 and 19 victories last season.
"I don't believe this year's success happened overnight," said Wilson. "We've been building to this point each year with consistent player development and learning what it takes to win. There's no doubt having a rotation full of players with experience in our program helped us take that 'next step' this year."
Wilson ensured his two seniors from California would have the chance to play in their home state before their college careers came to a close. The Scots posted a win in their winter break opener over the host school, UC-Santa Cruz, and led most of the way against nationally-ranked Transylvania before succumbing in the final seconds of a 55-52 loss.
"I think the turning point when we fully realized how good we could be was during our trip to California and competing with a ranked Transylvania team," claimed Wilson. "Being able to overcome the trip's travel difficulties and having a chance to force overtime on the final possession against an NCAA tournament team made us realize we can handle almost anything that could be thrown at us."
Wilson will have one more "difficulty" to deal with prior to the announcement of the IBCA Coach of the Year award. The awards ceremony, originally scheduled for May 2 in Bloomington, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans are underway for a new date later this year when the award winners will be officially announced. Three Monmouth alumni - Neil Alexander, Jay Blender and Barry Corban - will also be honored this year by the IBCA.
Information on the ceremony and awards may be found on the IBCA website at ibcaillinois.org.
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