It has been an outstanding year for the University of Louisville in the world of college sports. And behind great athletic departments and teams are great athletic directors and coaches. At Louisville we have the best Athletic Director in the country in Tom Jurich and we have one of the greatest coaches in college basketball in Rick Pitino. Wednesday night these two men will be honored for their great achievements over the past year.

First Tom Jurich is nominated for Athletic Director of the year at the Sports Business Awards Ceremony. The Sports Business Awards, a night celebrating excellence in sports business, will be held at the New York Marriott Marquis at Times Square in New York City. The winners among nominees will be announced live at this event.
Launched in 2008, the Sports Business Awards were established by SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily to celebrate and recognize the leaders, visionaries and day-to-day practitioners who personify excellence in the business of sports. The 2013 nominees and winners are being recognized for excellence and outstanding achievement in the business of sports for the period from March 1, 2012 – February 28, 2013.
I don’t think anyone deserves this award more than Jurich and I don’t see how he doesn’t claim it. The other nominees for Athletic Director of the Year are Mike Holder Oklahoma State University, Mal Moore University of Alabama, and Jim Phillips Northwestern University.

Also on Wednesday night Coach Rick Pitino will be presented with the New York Athletic Club’s Winged Foot Award. The Award was established in 1996 by the NYAC and is presented annually to the winning coaches of the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I Basketball Tournaments. The function will be hosted at the NYAC’s City House in mid-town Manhattan. The evening will feature a cocktail reception, dinner, speeches and the presentation of the Awards. Celebrated sportscaster, Billy Packer will MC the ceremonies, as he has done since the Award’s inception.
The Winged Foot Award came into being in the mid-1990s when the New York Athletic Club, an iconic presence in the world of amateur sport, noted that there was no official award to honor the head coaches of the victorious NCAA men’s and women’s basketball teams. The Club presented the first men’s trophy to Rick Pitino in 1996.

Two great men and two great honors. Good luck to Tom Jurich and congrats to Coach Pitino.