THE CLARENCE "BIG HOUSE" GAINES AWARD

Hawai'i Pacific’s Darren Vorderbruegge is the recipient of the 2017 Clarence Gaines award. The award is presented annually to the top Division II coach in America.

April 4, 2017

2017 CLARENCE GAINES AWARD

PHOENIX, AZ -- Hawai'i Pacific’s Darren Vorderbruegge is the recipient of the 2017 Clarence Gaines award. The award is presented annually to the top Division II coach in America.

Vorderbruegge led the Sharks to 29 victories and the regular season and conference championships in the Pac West Conference to earn the honor giving to the nation’s top Division II coach.

This is his 11th season at the school and ninth as the head coach. The program has been on a steady climb during his tenure and this year exploded due to excellence on both ends. Hawaii Pacific led the PacWest in scoring (86.3 points per game), scoring defense (68.1 ppg) and field goal percentage (.487).

“Coach Vorderbruegge has taken the program to new heights,” said CollegeInsider.com’s Angela Lento. “His team plays an exciting brand of basketball and they defend.”

He’s the first coach to lead the program to four consecutive winning seasons during its 19 years as a NCAA member..

One of the true legends of all-time, Gaines retired from Winston-Salem State University in 1993 with a record of 828-446. At the time he was the winningest active basketball coach in NCAA history. Gaines was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

During his 47-year tenure as coach and athletic director at WSSU he coached professional basketball greats Cleo Hill (first African-American from an historically Black college and university to be drafted No. 1 by the National Basketball Association, St. Louis Hawks, 1961) and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe.