BC Bulletin Awards 2019-20: Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Is Coach of the Year
We have already named three of our awards, as AJ Dillon won Male Athlete of the Year, David Bailey Sixth Man of the Year, and the Men's Hockey Team as Team of the Year. Today we want to honor Joanna Bernabei McNamee, winner of our "Coach of the Year".
Bernabei- McNamee took over the women's basketball program two years ago. When she took the reigns it was a program that was in rough shape and in dire need of a new direction. Prior to her hire, head coach Erik Johnson finished the 2017-18 season winning only seven games total, and went 2-14 in the conference . After her hire, McNamee immediately started to turned the program around in her first year, grabbing more victories and building a culture with her team of personal accountability and playing for each other. In her second year in Chestnut Hill, McNamee took another jump as they finished 18-11 and 11-7 in the conference. Her team broke the school record for wins in the ACC during the past season, and she was named ACC Coach of the Year.
She was the face of a program that had more highlights than any BC women's basketball program in recent memory. Her Eagles team defeated ranked FSU, beat Notre Dame twice for the first time in school history, and ended the season red hot. Her team won two games in the ACC tournament before being bounced by Louisville in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately due to the coronavirus outbreak, her team was robbed the opportunity of possibly playing the NCAA tournament.
Women's basketball has not typically grabbed many headlines at Boston College. For many years the programs have lingered near the bottom of the conference, due to poor play. But this year, the exciting play and ability to go toe to toe with any team makes Joanna Bernabei-McNamee our Coach of the Year.
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