Mid-Prairie's Showalter wins national coaching award

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 8, 2009) -- In recognition of the USA's outstanding gold medal performance at the inaugural FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Men, as well as two USA Men's Developmental National Team training camps in 2009, USA Basketball today announced Mid-Prairie High School (Iowa) head coach Don Showalter as the 2009 USA Basketball Developmental Coach of the Year.

"I am very honored to be mentioned along with the other great coaches and past winners of the Developmental Coach of the Year award," Showalter said. "To be able to work with two outstanding assistant coaches - Kevin Sutton and Herman Harried - and some great young U16 players was truly a fantastic experience. Winning the gold medal was our only goal, and fortunately we accomplished this goal. Coaching a USA Basketball team is a first class experience."

Named head coach of the 2009-10 USA Basketball Men's Developmental National Team (DNT) in April of 2009, Showalter led the USA to a perfect 5-0 record and gold medal in the 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship June 17-21 in Mendoza, Argentina.

Perhaps most importantly, the finish qualified the USA for next summer's 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship.

"The USA Men's Developmental National Team could not have had a more impressive inaugural year, and Don deserves credit for much of the program's success," said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball Executive Director/CEO. "With a gold medal performance in the U16 Championship and two training camps this year, Don has prepared USA Basketball for success at the 2010 U17 World Championship."

In addition to the U16 gold medal, Showalter conducted the first ever USA Developmental National Team training camp on June 6-9 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., as well as an Oct. 10-11 mini-camp, also held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

"Coach Showalter was a great coach," said James McAdoo (Norfolk Christian H.S. / Norfolk, Va.), USA U16 team co-captain. "He didn't really put that many restrictions on us. He created structure, and he let us play. That really showed that he trusted in us and believed in us. He was a great example for us on and off the court because most of the time we spent with him was off the court. He took care of us, and he was a great coach."