PHOENIX, Ariz. – Hawai’i Pacific men’s basketball head coach Darren Vorderbruegge won the Clarence “Big House” Gaines Award, presented to the top Division II basketball coach in the nation.
 
The PacWest Coach of the Year and NABC West Region Co-Coach of the Year led the Sharks to their first PacWest regular season championship with an 18-2 conference record and first PacWest Championship tournament title. The Sharks reach the NCAA West Region semifinals, their first postseason appearance since 1999. HPU was ranked in the NABC Coaches’ Poll for 10-straight weeks, ascending to No. 3 on Feb. 7, the highest ranking in program history. He is the first HPU coach to post four-consecutive winning seasons in the NCAA era.
 
“Coach Vorderbruegge has taken the program to new heights,” said CollegeInsider.com’s Angela Lento. “His team plays an exciting brand of basketball and they defend.”
 
One of the true legends of all-time, Gaines retired from Winston-Salem State University in 1993 with a record of 828-446. At the time he was the winningest active coach in NCAA history. Gaines was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.
 
During his 47-year tenure as head coach and athletic director at WSSU he coached professional basketball greats Cleo Hill (first African-American from a historically Black college and university to be drafted No. 1 by the National Basketball Association, St. Louis Hawks, 1961) and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.