Former Coach Reggie Minton to Receive Court of Honor Award
7/14/2022 3:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (July 14, 2022) – Three former men's college basketball coaches – Roy Williams, Lon Kruger and Reggie Minton - will receive Court of Honor Awards from the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation at the 11th Court of Honor Gala on Wednesday, September 14.
The Gala will be held at 167 Green Street in Chicago. This spectacular venue, with a full-size basketball court on the top floor to accommodate the Gala, has direct access to Fulton Market's amenities, arts & culture, all modes of transportation and Chicago's Loop.
Additional information, including how to purchase tickets for the 2022 NABC Foundation Court of Honor Gala honoring these three outstanding coaches, is available at
www.courtofhonorgala.com/about/table2022 or call 816-595-6163
The NABC Foundation will utilize 100% of the net proceeds from this Gala to fund its programs, along with other charitable initiatives.
Among those initiatives this year is ABC-PILSEN, located in the underserved Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago. Its mission is to strengthen the community, reduce violence and improve the personal trajectory of youth and their families through academics, basketball and community building.
The Court of Honor Award is presented to individuals who have roots in college basketball, values those roots, and have gone on to distinguish themselves in their profession, exhibiting the highest standards of leadership.
"Our three honorees this year for the Court of Honor Awards, Roy Williams, Lon Kruger and Reggie Minton, are not only outstanding basketball coaches. They have been champions for numerous humanitarian efforts in their own communities and nationally," said Craig Robinson, NABC and NABC Foundation executive director. "Lon and Reggie have been pillars in the Coaches vs. Cancer program while Roy has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of many charities in the Chapel Hill area, including the Carolina Covenant, an initiative at North Carolina that allows low-income students to attend the University debt-free."
As the head coach at two of the most storied programs in men's college basketball history, the University of Kansas and the University of North Carolina, Roy Williams guided his teams to a total of 903 wins and just 264 losses, a winning percentage of .774. Williams, upon his retirement at the end of the Tar Heels' 2020-21 season, ranked fourth overall in career wins among NCAA Division I coaches and is the only Division I coach with 400 wins at two universities.
The North Carolina native graduated from UNC and served as an assistant coach under legendary Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith from 1978-1988 before moving on to his first collegiate head coaching position at Kansas. In his 15 seasons in Lawrence (1998-99/2002-2003), the Jayhawks won 418 games and lost just 101, a winning percentage of .805. Williams took KU to a pair of national championship games, in 1991 and 2003, reached the Final Four on four occasions, the Elite Eight five times and reached the Sweet Sixteen nine times. In conference play, the Jayhawks won five BIG 8 regular season titles, one BIG 8 tournament title, BIG 12 regular season titles four times and two BIG 12 tournament championships.
In 2003, Williams returned to Chapel Hill where his success continued, leading the Tar Heels to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances in 18 seasons. In just his second season as head coach at his alma mater, UNC beat Illinois to win the NCAA championship. Williams' teams reached the Final Four five times and won three NCAA championships (2005, 2009 and 2017). He is the only coach in NCAA history to lead two different programs to four or more Final Four appearances. Williams concluded his distinguished career with a record of 485-163 at Carolina, including nine Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships.
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, Williams earned numerous coach of the year awards including the Henry Iba Coach of the Year (1990, 2006), AP Coach of the Year (1992, 2006), Adolph Rupp Cup (2006), the John Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2003) and Naismith Coach of the Year (1997).
Williams and his wife Wanda have supported UNC with generous donations for scholarship programs and non-revenue sports for many years. Recently, the couple made a gift of $3 million to support scholarships for athletes, Carolina Covenant Scholars and Chancellor's Science Scholars.
The first of only three coaches in men's college basketball history to take five different programs to the NCAA Division I tournament, Lon Kruger is renowned as a program builder in men's college basketball.
Kruger had the unique opportunity to succeed his college coach, Jack Hartman, who retired from Kansas State in 1986. The Wildcats reached the NCAA tournament in each of the four seasons under Kruger and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in in 1987-88.
Moving on to rebuild a struggling basketball program at the University of Florida in 1990, Kruger led the Gators to the first Final Four in Florida history in his third season in Gainesville. His team had a 29-8 record in 1993-94 and Kruger earned SEC coach of the year honors for the second time.
Illinois came calling in 1996 and Kruger moved on to the Big Ten Conference. The Fighting Illini reached the second round of the NCAA tournament in three of his four seasons, tying for first place in 1998 with a 13-3 won-lost record in conference play.
Kruger left the collegiate ranks to lead the NBA's Atlanta Hawks for three seasons. He was back in the college game in 2004 where he began a highly successful seven-year tenure at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The Runnin' Rebels were dominant in the Mountain West Conference and missed postseason play only once. UNLV won 30 games in 2006-07, advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, one of four NCAA tournament appearances under Kruger, the Mountain West coach of the year in 2008.
Oklahoma University became the fifth and final program that advanced to the NCAA tournament with Kruger as head coach. Over 10 seasons, the Sooners reached the NCAA Tournament seven times, including the NCAA Final Four in 2015-16. He retired from coaching after the 2020-21 season with a career record of 674 wins and 432 losses.
Throughout his coaching career, Kruger has been a champion for the Coaches vs Cancer (CvC) program, a collaboration between the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society. He remains as the chair of the CvC Council and has raised millions of dollars for the program.
In a long and distinguished career as a military officer, basketball coach and administrator, Reggie Minton has had a significant impact on men's college basketball, especially its coaches and student-athletes.
A Bridgeport, Conn., native, Minton was an all-state selection at Bridgeport Central High and was a collegiate standout at The College of Wooster. Following graduation, he served for more than 20 years in the United States Air Force, continuing to earn honors with the All-Air Force and All-Armed Forces teams. He was an alternate for the 1964 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.
Minton was the men's basketball coach at the United State Air Force Academy for 16 seasons, the longest coaching tenure in the academy's history, and ranks second in career victories. He was the Mountain West Conference coach of the year in 2000.
That same year he joined the staff of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as associate executive director. In 2004, NABC Executive Director Jim Haney elevated Minton to deputy executive director, a position he held until his retirement in September 2020.
Minton assisted Haney on issues that impacted college basketball and its coaches, legislative actions and other matters with the NCAA, including preparation for the NABC Convention, held annually in conjunction with the men's Final Four. He also chaired the selection committee for the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, Minton was active with USA Basketball, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees and the NIT selection committee. He has served on numerous NCAA committees, including a term as chair of the rules committee and as a consultant to the NCAA Men's Basketball Issues Committee.
Minton served as the NABC liaison in its collaboration with the American Cancer Society for the Coaches vs. Cancer program, which has raised more than $100 million since its inception. The CvC honored him in 2021, unveiling the Reggie Minton Diversity in Cancer Research Internship Grant. This single grant will support the Society's broader Diversity in Cancer Research Internship grant program which will make a direct and potentially life altering impact in the lives of more than 20 undergraduate students.
On September 9, Minton will receive the 2022 John H. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the most prestigious award presented outside of enshrinement.
Court of Honor Award History
The inaugural Court of Honor Gala Experience was held in April 2009 in Chicago, where Jerry Colangelo, chairman of USA Basketball and the man who assembled the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic teams in 2008, 2012 and 2016 received the Court of Honor Award.
2010: Former Senator Bill Bradley, who combined distinguished careers in basketball, politics and government to become an iconic figure across America.
2011: Phil Knight, the chairman and co-founder of Nike, Inc., the world's largest sports and fitness company.
2013: Jim Nantz of CBS Sports, the multi-Emmy Award winning sportscaster and the voice of the NCAA® Men's Final Four®.
2014: Dick Vitale, ESPN college basketball analyst and the unofficial "ambassador" for the game.
2015: Legendary Hall of Fame coach John Thompson, Jr., who led Georgetown University to 10 BIG EAST titles and the 1984 NCAA championship.
2016: George Raveling, inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, head coach at Washington State, Iowa and USC and director of global basketball for Nike, Inc.
2017: Mike Krzyzewski, Hall of Fame head coach at Duke University, who guided the Blue Devils to five NCAA championships and is the all-time NCAA leader in career victories with 1,202.
2018: Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and John Rogers, chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments, longtime champions for education, literacy and national service.
2019: Syracuse University Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, who has spent his entire head coaching career at his alma mater and has 1,099 career victories.
No awards were presented in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
The Court of Honor Gala events were held in New York City after 2009.
The Gala will be held at 167 Green Street in Chicago. This spectacular venue, with a full-size basketball court on the top floor to accommodate the Gala, has direct access to Fulton Market's amenities, arts & culture, all modes of transportation and Chicago's Loop.
Additional information, including how to purchase tickets for the 2022 NABC Foundation Court of Honor Gala honoring these three outstanding coaches, is available at
www.courtofhonorgala.com/about/table2022 or call 816-595-6163
The NABC Foundation will utilize 100% of the net proceeds from this Gala to fund its programs, along with other charitable initiatives.
Among those initiatives this year is ABC-PILSEN, located in the underserved Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago. Its mission is to strengthen the community, reduce violence and improve the personal trajectory of youth and their families through academics, basketball and community building.
The Court of Honor Award is presented to individuals who have roots in college basketball, values those roots, and have gone on to distinguish themselves in their profession, exhibiting the highest standards of leadership.
"Our three honorees this year for the Court of Honor Awards, Roy Williams, Lon Kruger and Reggie Minton, are not only outstanding basketball coaches. They have been champions for numerous humanitarian efforts in their own communities and nationally," said Craig Robinson, NABC and NABC Foundation executive director. "Lon and Reggie have been pillars in the Coaches vs. Cancer program while Roy has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of many charities in the Chapel Hill area, including the Carolina Covenant, an initiative at North Carolina that allows low-income students to attend the University debt-free."
As the head coach at two of the most storied programs in men's college basketball history, the University of Kansas and the University of North Carolina, Roy Williams guided his teams to a total of 903 wins and just 264 losses, a winning percentage of .774. Williams, upon his retirement at the end of the Tar Heels' 2020-21 season, ranked fourth overall in career wins among NCAA Division I coaches and is the only Division I coach with 400 wins at two universities.
The North Carolina native graduated from UNC and served as an assistant coach under legendary Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith from 1978-1988 before moving on to his first collegiate head coaching position at Kansas. In his 15 seasons in Lawrence (1998-99/2002-2003), the Jayhawks won 418 games and lost just 101, a winning percentage of .805. Williams took KU to a pair of national championship games, in 1991 and 2003, reached the Final Four on four occasions, the Elite Eight five times and reached the Sweet Sixteen nine times. In conference play, the Jayhawks won five BIG 8 regular season titles, one BIG 8 tournament title, BIG 12 regular season titles four times and two BIG 12 tournament championships.
In 2003, Williams returned to Chapel Hill where his success continued, leading the Tar Heels to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances in 18 seasons. In just his second season as head coach at his alma mater, UNC beat Illinois to win the NCAA championship. Williams' teams reached the Final Four five times and won three NCAA championships (2005, 2009 and 2017). He is the only coach in NCAA history to lead two different programs to four or more Final Four appearances. Williams concluded his distinguished career with a record of 485-163 at Carolina, including nine Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships.
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, Williams earned numerous coach of the year awards including the Henry Iba Coach of the Year (1990, 2006), AP Coach of the Year (1992, 2006), Adolph Rupp Cup (2006), the John Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2003) and Naismith Coach of the Year (1997).
Williams and his wife Wanda have supported UNC with generous donations for scholarship programs and non-revenue sports for many years. Recently, the couple made a gift of $3 million to support scholarships for athletes, Carolina Covenant Scholars and Chancellor's Science Scholars.
The first of only three coaches in men's college basketball history to take five different programs to the NCAA Division I tournament, Lon Kruger is renowned as a program builder in men's college basketball.
Kruger had the unique opportunity to succeed his college coach, Jack Hartman, who retired from Kansas State in 1986. The Wildcats reached the NCAA tournament in each of the four seasons under Kruger and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in in 1987-88.
Moving on to rebuild a struggling basketball program at the University of Florida in 1990, Kruger led the Gators to the first Final Four in Florida history in his third season in Gainesville. His team had a 29-8 record in 1993-94 and Kruger earned SEC coach of the year honors for the second time.
Illinois came calling in 1996 and Kruger moved on to the Big Ten Conference. The Fighting Illini reached the second round of the NCAA tournament in three of his four seasons, tying for first place in 1998 with a 13-3 won-lost record in conference play.
Kruger left the collegiate ranks to lead the NBA's Atlanta Hawks for three seasons. He was back in the college game in 2004 where he began a highly successful seven-year tenure at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The Runnin' Rebels were dominant in the Mountain West Conference and missed postseason play only once. UNLV won 30 games in 2006-07, advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, one of four NCAA tournament appearances under Kruger, the Mountain West coach of the year in 2008.
Oklahoma University became the fifth and final program that advanced to the NCAA tournament with Kruger as head coach. Over 10 seasons, the Sooners reached the NCAA Tournament seven times, including the NCAA Final Four in 2015-16. He retired from coaching after the 2020-21 season with a career record of 674 wins and 432 losses.
Throughout his coaching career, Kruger has been a champion for the Coaches vs Cancer (CvC) program, a collaboration between the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society. He remains as the chair of the CvC Council and has raised millions of dollars for the program.
In a long and distinguished career as a military officer, basketball coach and administrator, Reggie Minton has had a significant impact on men's college basketball, especially its coaches and student-athletes.
A Bridgeport, Conn., native, Minton was an all-state selection at Bridgeport Central High and was a collegiate standout at The College of Wooster. Following graduation, he served for more than 20 years in the United States Air Force, continuing to earn honors with the All-Air Force and All-Armed Forces teams. He was an alternate for the 1964 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.
Minton was the men's basketball coach at the United State Air Force Academy for 16 seasons, the longest coaching tenure in the academy's history, and ranks second in career victories. He was the Mountain West Conference coach of the year in 2000.
That same year he joined the staff of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as associate executive director. In 2004, NABC Executive Director Jim Haney elevated Minton to deputy executive director, a position he held until his retirement in September 2020.
Minton assisted Haney on issues that impacted college basketball and its coaches, legislative actions and other matters with the NCAA, including preparation for the NABC Convention, held annually in conjunction with the men's Final Four. He also chaired the selection committee for the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, Minton was active with USA Basketball, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees and the NIT selection committee. He has served on numerous NCAA committees, including a term as chair of the rules committee and as a consultant to the NCAA Men's Basketball Issues Committee.
Minton served as the NABC liaison in its collaboration with the American Cancer Society for the Coaches vs. Cancer program, which has raised more than $100 million since its inception. The CvC honored him in 2021, unveiling the Reggie Minton Diversity in Cancer Research Internship Grant. This single grant will support the Society's broader Diversity in Cancer Research Internship grant program which will make a direct and potentially life altering impact in the lives of more than 20 undergraduate students.
On September 9, Minton will receive the 2022 John H. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the most prestigious award presented outside of enshrinement.
Court of Honor Award History
The inaugural Court of Honor Gala Experience was held in April 2009 in Chicago, where Jerry Colangelo, chairman of USA Basketball and the man who assembled the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic teams in 2008, 2012 and 2016 received the Court of Honor Award.
2010: Former Senator Bill Bradley, who combined distinguished careers in basketball, politics and government to become an iconic figure across America.
2011: Phil Knight, the chairman and co-founder of Nike, Inc., the world's largest sports and fitness company.
2013: Jim Nantz of CBS Sports, the multi-Emmy Award winning sportscaster and the voice of the NCAA® Men's Final Four®.
2014: Dick Vitale, ESPN college basketball analyst and the unofficial "ambassador" for the game.
2015: Legendary Hall of Fame coach John Thompson, Jr., who led Georgetown University to 10 BIG EAST titles and the 1984 NCAA championship.
2016: George Raveling, inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, head coach at Washington State, Iowa and USC and director of global basketball for Nike, Inc.
2017: Mike Krzyzewski, Hall of Fame head coach at Duke University, who guided the Blue Devils to five NCAA championships and is the all-time NCAA leader in career victories with 1,202.
2018: Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and John Rogers, chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments, longtime champions for education, literacy and national service.
2019: Syracuse University Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, who has spent his entire head coaching career at his alma mater and has 1,099 career victories.
No awards were presented in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
The Court of Honor Gala events were held in New York City after 2009.
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