BOB THOMASON RECIPIENT OF HUGH DURHAM MID-MAJOR COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

April 5, 2005

It was a magical season for coach Bob Thomason and the University of the Pacific Tigers and it’s been a season with numerous accolades. Add one more to the list.

Thomason is the recipient of the “Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year” award, given out by CollegeInsider.com. Previously recognized as the Mid-Major Coach of the Year award, CI renamed the award to honor the recently retired Durham.

“It’s fitting that Bob is the first recipient of this award,” said Joe Dwyer who is the editor-in-chief and founder of CollegeInsider.com. “Coach Durham knows Bob very well and has really admired the job he has done.”

Under the guidance of Thomason, Pacific finished 27-4 this season, which included a perfect 18-0 mark in the Big West Conference. Both win totals established new school records.

Pacific, which also ran off a school-record 22-game winning streak (Dec. 21-Mar. 11), earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and posted a first-round victory over Pittsburgh. It marked the second straight season that the Tigers had beaten a team from the Big East conference in the NCAA tournament (beat Providence in 2004).

This was Thomason’s seventeenth season at Pacific and clearly the school’s most historic.

A 1971 Pacific graduate, Thomason played on teams that were 17-9, 21-6 and 22-6 in 1968-69, 1969-70 and 1970-71, respectively. The 1970-71 club with teammates John Gianelli and Jim McCargo, advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Thomason is a visible link between Pacific's past glory and its present success.