Marquette's Tom Crean Named 2002-03 Clair Bee Award Winner

Tom Crean

New Orleans, LA -- Marquette University Head Basketball Coach Tom Crean has been named the recipient of the 2002-03 Clair Bee Award which honors the active Division I coach who has made the most significant positive contributions to his sport during the year.

Crean has guided the Golden Eagles to the program’s first Final Four since 1977 along with an overall record of 27-5, tying for the second-most wins in school history. Crean directed Marquette to its first C-USA regular-season title finishing with a 14-2 ledger, tying for the second-highest win total in league play. Crean earned his second straight Ray Meyer C-USA Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and was also tabbed by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as the District 11 Coach of the Year for the second straight campaign.

The Clair Bee Award Selection Panel is comprised of a distinguished panel of voters including Dick Vitale, Dean Smith, Billy Packer, Joe O’Brien, Pete Newell, Bob Knight, Bob Hammel, Dave Gavitt and Jim Delany.

Clair Bee is regarded as one of the greatest basketball coaches of all-time with his career winning percentage of 82.6 ranking No. 1 all-time among major college coaches. Bee had a coaching stint at Rider College in New Jersey (1929-30, through 1930-31) before becoming the head coach at Long Island University. Bee’s teams went undefeated during the 1935-36 and 1938-39 seasons, stringing together a 43-game win streak and in one 13-year span had an incredible 222-3 home record. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1967.

Recipients of the Coach Clair Bee Award
2003 Tom Crean Marquette
2002 Bob Knight Texas Tech
2001 Lute Olson Arizona
2000 Jim Boeheim Syracuse
1999 Jim O’Brien Ohio State
1998 Jim Phelan Mount St. Mary’s
1997 Clem Haskins Minnesota