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NCCU's Joli Robinson named District Coach of the YearMarch 12, 2001
(Durham, NC) North Carolina Central University headwomen's basketball coach Joli Robinson has been selected as the 2001WBCA Division II District 3 Coach of the Year, the Women's BasketballCoaches Association announced. Robinson is now one of eight finalists for the 2001 RussellAthletic/WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year Award, which willbe presented at a banquet on Wednesday, March 28 in St. Louis, Missouri. After ending the 1999-2000 season with a losing 12-17 record,Robinson guided the 2000-01 Lady Eagles to the winningest women'sbasketball campaign in school history, finishing with an overall recordof 25 wins, 6 losses. This year's squad established many new standards,including a 16-game winning streak (shattering the old mark of sevenstraight victories) and an invitation to the NCAA Division II SouthAtlantic Regional Championship (the first at-large bid for women'sbasketball in school history). They also posted an undefeated 12-0record at home and won the CIAA Western Division Regular Season titlefor the second time in the last three seasons. A native of Charlotte, NC, Robinson was also recognized as the 2001CIAA Women's Basketball Coach of the Year, her second such honor inthree years. The end to the 2000-01 season was much brighter than the beginningfor Robinson. Three days before the start of the regular season,Robinson tore her Achilles' tendon during a faculty/staff versusstudents basketball game on NCCU's campus. She underwent surgery andspent the first half of the season on the sideline in a wheelchair andon crutches. Still, she never missed a game. Even after the finalcontest of the record-breaking season (a two-point loss in the regionalsemifinals to the No. 1 team in the country), Robinson had a slight limpas she crossed the mid-court line to shake hands with the opposing team. Robinson battled both on the hardwood with her team and inrehabilitation with her injury to achieve success. NOTE: District 3 includes all of the institutions in the NCAA's South AtlanticRegion.
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