Fortner Tabbed Georgia Coach of the Year

ATLANTA, Ga. – Georgia Tech women’s basketball head coach Nell Fortner has been named the 2020 Whack Hyder Georgia Women’s College Coach of the Year, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Thursday, after leading the Yellow Jackets to a successful 2019-20 season.

In her first year on The Flats, Fortner guided the Yellow Jackets to a 20-11 overall record, marking the best record by a first-year head coach in Georgia Tech women’s basketball program history. Tech concluded the Atlantic Coast Conference season with a 10-8 mark, good for the first winning conference record since the 2013-14 season and the first 10-win ledger in ACC play since 2011-12.

The Yellow Jackets capped the season reaching the ACC Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2016. Additionally, the Jackets went 4-2 against top-25 programs and collected seven wins over teams in the top 75 RPI.

Other highlights include Tech’s first-ever win in Athens when the Yellow Jackets defeated the Lady Bulldogs, 73-40, on Nov. 17. Senior Francesca Pan, who was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team, also picked up All-ACC second team honors and was tabbed to the All-ACC Academic Team for the fourth time.

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ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB

Founded during the 1956-57 season, the Atlanta Tipoff Club is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club administers the Naismith Awards, the most prestigious national honors in all of college and high school basketball. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, the family of Naismith Awards annually recognizes the most outstanding men’s and women’s college and high school basketball players and coaches. Other Naismith Awards are presented to the men’s and women’s college basketball defensive players of the year, as well as lifetime achievement awards to basketball officials and outstanding contributors to the game. UCLA’s Lew Alcindor received the first Citizen Naismith Trophy in 1969, while the late Anne Donovan (Old Dominion) was the inaugural women’s recipient in 1983. Corporate partners of the Naismith Awards include Citizen Watch Company, Jersey Mike’s and Werner Ladder.

Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and Athletics Initiative 2020, Georgia Tech athletics’ ongoing $125 million initiative to allow Tech to recruit the nation’s most elite student-athletes, build a better student-athlete once they arrive on The Flats and, ultimately, win! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.

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