PROVIDENCE, RI – Barbara Jacobs, associate commissioner for women’s basketball at the American Athletic Conference, has been named the 2020 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Administrator of the Year, announced today by the WBCA.
The WBCA Administrator of the Year award is presented annually to an administrator, athletic director, associate or assistant athletic director, or senior woman administrator who has excelled at encouraging the growth and quality of women’s basketball programs and women’s athletic programs overall. The candidate also must have served as a professional role model for student-athletes.
“This is a well-deserved honor for Barbara and I could not be happier for her,” said American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco. “Barbara has dedicated her career as both a coach and administrator to women’s basketball and has been a tireless advocate for the sport. She is well-respected by coaches, student-athletes and fellow administrators at all levels for her many contributions and for the impact she has had on the strategic direction of women’s basketball nationally. All of us at The American greatly appreciate all that she has done for our league and for the game of women’s basketball through the years.”
“Respected nationally and committed to coaches and student-athletes alike, Barbara Jacobs has been on the front lines of growing women’s basketball her entire career and the game is better for it,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle M. Donehew. “Barbara has guarded the game through her lifetime service as a player, coach, official and administrator. She is a championship coach and a talented administrator. She has always been a coach at heart — a WBCA member since the beginning and a wise friend to coaches. She is committed to strengthening the coaching profession. As an administrator, she has served many decorated coaches in the sport and positioned them and their programs for growth and success. I am pleased to announce to announce Barbara Jacobs as the 2020 WBCA Administrator of the Year.”
Jacobs joined the conference office (formerly the Big East Conference) in 1995 as Assistant Commissioner and was promoted to her current position at the American Athletic Conference in July of 2014. She will retire following 25 years at the end of the current season. In addition to her work at the American, Jacobs also served on numerous committees including the CCA coordinators of officials (1997-01) and served as the Secretary Rules Editor for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee (1998-06). She is currently a member of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Competition Committee.
Before joining the American, Jacobs spent 23 seasons as a college coach. She began her tenure at Hartwick College in 1971 before accepting the head coaching position at Syracuse University in 1978. Jacobs guided the Orange to the 1985 Big East Championship while earning the program’s first ever trip to the NCAA tournament. She would later be named Coach of the Year by the conference in 1988. The same year Syracuse returned to the NCAA tournament. In 1993, she was hired as an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University where she remained until 1995.
The WBCA Administrator of the Year award was first presented in 1985.