Griffith Named Asian Coaches Association Coach of the Year

NEW YORK – The Asian Coaches Association has named Megan Griffith its 2023-24 Women's Basketball Coach of the Year. The association announced its annual honorees at its Women's Basketball Coaches Reception, which took place at the Women's Final Four last week in Cleveland.

Also named the 2023-24 Ivy League Coach of the Year, Griffith is now a two-time recipient of the Asian Coaches Association Award (2021-22). This past season, she coached the Lions to a 23-7 overall record and went 13-1 in the league to win a second straight Ivy League Championship. After putting together a quality at-large resume for the second year in a row, Griffith and the Lions heard their name called on Selection Sunday. Columbia earned its first bid to the NCAA Tournament in the program's Division I history (1986-pres.), receiving a No. 12 seed in the Portland 3 Regional.

The 2023-24 Lions lifted the Farquhar-Baker Trophy on March 9 after a dominant, 82-46, victory at Cornell in the regular-season finale. The Lions finished the Ivy League season 13-1 to set the program record for most Ivy League wins. The season included impressive non-conference victories over the likes of Seton Hall and Villanova, as well as a mere four-point loss to Duke. Columbia's non-conference schedule included seven teams that went on to compete in a 2024 postseason tournament, including Duke (NCAA), Stony Brook (WBIT), Seton Hall (WBIT), Villanova (WBIT), Florida (WBIT), Pacific (WNIT) and Providence (WNIT).

At the end of the regular season, Abbey Hsu was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, marking just the second time in program history a Lion won the award. Griffith earned her second consecutive Ivy League Coach of the Year award. Hsu was also a unanimous First Team All-Ivy honoree, while juniors Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins were named Second Team All-Ivy League.

Abbey Hsu picked up several national recognitions throughout the season. On top of being Ivy League Player of the Year, she was named an All-America Honorable Mention by the Associated Press (AP) and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), becoming the first player in program history to earn the distinction from both. The star guard was named to several watch lists throughout the season, including the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Award, the John R. Wooden Award, Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, USBWA All-America Team, WBCA Coaches All-America Team and the Naismith Hall of Fame Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard of the Year).

Hsu was named Ivy League Player of the Week a program record seven times, ranking top-25 in the country in scoring (20.4), top-15 in total threes (90) and top-10 in threes made per game (3.00). She also scored a Columbia record 611 points, surpassing the previous record of 608 held by Camille Zimmerman. On February 16 in Hanover, New Hampshire, Hsu became the all-time leading scorer in Columbia basketball history and, on February 24, Hsu became the first Ivy League player in 20 years to reach the 2,000-point plateau, scoring a game-high 26 points on her Senior Night to lead the Lions to a, 67-65, victory over then-No. 25 Princeton. The win was Columbia's first over an AP Top 25 team in program history. Hsu's final scoring total (2,126) ranks third in Ivy League women's basketball history.

About the Asian Coaches Association
Founded in 2011 by current President Mike Magpayo, the Asian Coaches Association strives to give Asian coaches and coaches of Asian descent a network in the college basketball coaching world. Magpayo, who was a men's assistant at Columbia when he and others came up with the idea for the organization, is now the men's head coach at UC Riverside.

"Our Association has some of the most innovative, hungry, and energetic young coaches in the business. Our members are at the forefront of gaining an edge on the court, off the court, in the film room, or in the statistics. We accept all supporters of Asian Coaches, all races, ethnicities, who share in our mission. This will allow our group to network and branch out." - President Mike Magpayo

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Schedule

Griffith Named Asian Coaches Association Coach of the Year

Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Kitty Henderson

Abbey Hsu

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