Harry Perretta Named Co-BIG EAST Coach of the Year

Perretta led Villanova to No. 4 seed in this week's BIG EAST Championship

Harry Perretta has been named a BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the third time.

March 6, 2009

HARTFORD, Conn. - Villanova University head women's basketball coach Harry Perretta was today named the 2008-09 Big East Conference Co-Coach of the Year. Perretta shares the honor with Connecticut mentor Geno Auriemma. The announcement was made at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., between sessions of the first round of the 2009 Big East Tournament. This is Perretta's third Big East Coach of the Year Award. He also garnered the honor in 1996 and 1987.

"I am honored to be selected for this award. It is a nice thing to be able to share this with my friend (Geno Auriemma) who I have known for 31 years," said Perretta. "This is the ultimate team honor. No coach wins this type of award without good players and good assistant coaches. I am really proud of what the team has accomplished this season. We were able to become greater than the sum of our parts which is why we won 18 games overall and 10 in the league."

Perretta led the Wildcats to a regular season record of 18-12 overall, including a 10-6 Big East Conference mark. Villanova was picked to finish 10th in the pre-season Big East coaches poll, but tied for fourth in the league standings with the 10-6 record. En route to the 18-12 mark, Villanova registered an eight game Big East winning streak from mid-January to mid-February. The Wildcats claimed the four seed in this week's conference tournament and will receive a double bye to the quarterfinal round. Villanova will play at noon on Sunday, March 8, against an opponent to be determined.

Currently in his 31st season at Villanova, Perretta has tallied a 571-341 record. During his career, he has led the Wildcats 14 twenty-win seasons, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, three Big East Conference Tournament titles, two Big East regular season championships and 11 Philadelphia Big Five titles. His 571 victories rank him as the winningest coach in the history of Villanova basketball for both men and women. He has also coached one national player of the year, 14 first team All-Big East performers, 12 Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Famers and 21, 1,000 point scorers.