March 30, 2023

HOUSTON, TX -- Former DePaul, Richmond and UNCW head coach Jerry Wainwright is the recipient of the 2023 Gene Bartow award.

The award is presented annually to a current or former coach for his contributions to the game. It measures a coach’s win-loss record but also the impact he’s made on his players, school, and community.

“Coach Wainwright has made such a positive impact on countless players and coaches,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of CollegeInsider.com. “His success on the court is well documented, but his impact on others is immeasurable. Jerry is one of the most genuine, down to earth people you will ever meet. I challenge you to find anyone that doesn’t love Jerry Wainwright.”

Coach Wainwright spent 16 seasons as head coach, most notably with UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) where he led the Seahawks to three regular titles in the Colonial Athletic Association and two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
He has been a part of college basketball for nearly 60 years, beginning as player in 1964 at Morton community college in Cicero, Illinois.  His coaching career started at West Leyden High School is a high school in Northlake, Illinois. 1971.

Wainwright became a division I assistant coach at Xavier in 1984. He would go on to Wake Forest before getting his first head coach job at UNCW. From 1994-2002, Wainwright would lead the Seahawks to their best stretch since joining division I in 1976, which included four postseason appearances.

He would later lead Richmond to its first NCAA tournament (2004) in six seasons and would guide DePaul to the quarterfinals of the NIT in 2007. After leaving DePaul he spent the next few seasons as an assistant coach, helping former players and coaching friends at Fresno State, Marquette and Tulsa.

Wainwright coached many outstanding players, including two-time CAA Player of the Year and All-American, Brett Blizzard. Several other players and assistant coaches would go on to be successful head coaches, including Mark Byington, Billy Donlon, Brad Brownell and Rodney Terry.

He has also worked with USA Basketball.

Wainwright finished his career with 244 wins, 3 regular season championships, 4 NIT appearances and 3 trips to the NCAA tournament.

The award is named in honor of a legendary coach who compiled a 647-353 record, and is one of only 17 coaches in division I college basketball history to take multiple teams to the Final Four.

In four seasons at Memphis State, Gene Bartow averaged over 20 wins per season and led the Tigers to the 1973 national title game. 

After a one-year stint at Illinois, Bartow was given the unenviable task of following the legendary Coach John Wooden at UCLA. In his first season he guided the Bruins to the Final Four. After just two seasons in Westwood, Bartow left to literally start a new program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB).

Seemingly unheard of today, Bartow built the program from scratch, and built it into a postseason regular. He won four Sun Belt tournament and three regular season titles during his 17 years at UAB, leading the program to a 350-193 record and seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

Coach Bartow passed away in 2012 at age 81, following a two-year battle with stomach cancer.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.