MINNEAPOLIS – St. Edward's Head Men's Basketball Coach Andre Cook was announced as the 2019 Clarence Gaines Award winner, presented annually to the top Division II head coach by CollegeInsider.com. 

Cook led the Hilltoppers to a record-setting season with a regular season Heartland Conference Championship, Heartland Conference Tournament Championship and Sweet Sixteen appearance. With a 30-4 overall record, SEU set a program record for wins in a season with the previous mark being 24 wins during the 2006-07 season. 

Following the historic season the accolades began to flood in. Cook was named Heartland Conference Coach of the Year and NABC District Coach of the Year while leading the Hilltoppers to three All-Heartland honors including Newcomer of the Year and Player of the Year in ASHTON SPEARS.

One of the true legends of all-time, Gaines retired from Winston-Salem State University in 1993 with a record of 828-446. At the time he was the winningest active basketball coach in NCAA history. Gaines was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

During his 47-year tenure as coach and athletic director at WSSU he coached professional basketball greats Cleo Hill (first African-American from an historically Black college and university to be drafted No. 1 by the National Basketball Association, St. Louis Hawks, 1961) and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe.




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