Tickets Now Available for the 2017 Joe Lapchick Character Award Luncheon Celebrating Selections of McKillop, Raftery and Burke
New York, NY (PRWEB) August 15, 2017 -- Davidson College Basketball Coach Bob McKillop, about to start his 29th season as coach at Davidson, and TV analysts Bill Raftery and Doris Burke have been chosen as recipients 2017 Lapchick Character Awards.
“We are very pleased to have such an outstanding group of Lapchick Awardees this, our tenth year of the Lapchick Character Awards,” commented Jim McTighe, chairman of the Joe Lapchick Character Awards.
Tickets, priced from $150 to $185 are now available for the Awards presentations and luncheon scheduled for Friday, October 6, 2017, at the Wyndham, New Yorker Hotel’s second floor Grand Ballroom at 481 8th Avenue in New York City beginning at 1 pm. Mike Breen, play-by-play announcer for the NBA on ABC and the lead announcer for the New York Knicks on MSG Network will MC the event.
To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.characteraward.com.
The award is named for the Naismith Hall of Fame coach and is presented by a group that includes Joe Lapchick biographer and former player Gus Alfieri. It recognizes those who have shown the character traits of Lapchick, who coached at St. John's and with the New York Knicks.
McKillop, entering his 29th season as Davidson’s coach, played at Hofstra and coached at Holy Trinity and Long Island Lutheran high schools on Long Island, went on to a stellar career at Davidson where he has compiled a 533-330 record while maintaining the school's high academic standards.
In 2015, Davidson's first season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, the Wildcats won the regular-season title.
Davidson's best run under McKillop was a trip to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in 2008 when the Wildcats, led by Stephen Curry, lost to Kansas in a game to get to the Final Four.
Raftery is one of television sports most colorful analysts. He has been on the air for 25 years, beginning as an analyst for ESPN and for the past two years has been a member of the Final Four broadcast team for CBS.
From 1970-1981, he served as head coach at Seton Hall, where he led the Pirates to seven straight winning seasons and a record of 154-141. Raftery had an outstanding college career at Philadelphia’s La Salle University.
Burke has been with ESPN since 1991 performing a variety of duties there. Burke has worked both men's and women's college games as well as covering the NBA for the network.
A former standout at Providence College who held seven records upon graduation, Burke received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2005.
About the Joe Lapchick Character Awards
Founded in 2008, The Joe Lapchick Character Foundation, and its annual awards luncheon, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, were conceived by former St. John’s player and longtime high school coach Gus Alfieri. Author of the book “Lapchick: The Life of a Legendary Player and Coach in the Glory Days of Basketball,” Alfieri wanted to preserve and celebrate the legacy of Lapchick, a Hall of Fame player and coach for 30 years; 20 at St. John’s University and 10 more with the New York Knicks.
Previous winners of the Lapchick Award include Naismith Hall of Famers and Coaches Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Pat Summitt, Lou Carnesseca, John Thompson Jr., Bob Hurley Sr., Jim Phelan, Pete Carill, Jody Conradt, Cathy Rush, Morgan Wooten, Pete Newell, C.M. Newton, John Bach, Don Haskins, Kay Yow, Jack Curran, Debbie Ryan, Theresa Grentz, Gene Keady and George Raveling.
Tickets for this year’s luncheon can be purchased by visiting the Foundation’s website, http://www.characteraward.com.
john frew, hamilton pr, +1 (917) 776-4928, [email protected]
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