SALISBURY, NC -- Jacques Curtis of Shaw University (NC) and Anthony Evans of Norfolk State University (VA) are the winners of the second annual Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines Awards, presented to the top minority college basketball coach in NCAA Division I (Evans) and II (Curtis) by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association & Hall of Fame.

Curtis, head women’s coach at Shaw, led the Lady Bears to the most-successful season in their history as well.  His 12th season at Shaw ended with the Lady Bears winning the school’s first NCAA National Championship.
 
Earlier in the season, the Savannah, GA native reached a milestone, winning his 250th game at Shaw.  His Lady Bears have won nearly 70 percent of the games Curtis has coached and they have qualified for six NCAA Tournaments in his 12 seasons, with four Elite Eight appearances.

Along with their success on the court, Curtis’s student athletes have had tremendous productivity in the classroom.  Every single player who has completed four years of eligibility under Curtis has graduated.  

Prior to taking over as head coach Shaw in 2000, Curtis served as a Lady Bears’ assistant.  He has also served as head coach at his alma mater Savannah State.  He and his wife Michelle have two sons, Jacquim and Jamile.

Evans’s fifth season as Norfolk State’s head men's basketball coach was his most successful, culminating in an NCAA Tournament win over Missouri. The Brooklyn, NY native and 1994 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas led the Spartans to a 26-10 record in 2011-12.  In addition to the win over Missouri, NSU’s school-record 26 wins included a Mideastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament championship.

Before joining the staff at NSU, Evans was a junior college head coach in New York for four seasons, two at Delhi Tech (Delhi, NY) and two at Ulster County (Kingston, NY).

The Gaines Awards are named for legendary Winston-Salem State University head men’s basketball coach Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines, who during his 47 season as WSSU’s head coach won more than 800 games.  Gaines is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Gaines Awards will be presented as part of the 53rd Annual NSSA Awards Banquet, June 11th, at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC.