Kansas' Lew Perkins Receives NIT Man of the Year Honor

April 1, 2005

NEW YORK – University of Kansas director of athletics Lew Perkins received the National Invitation Tournament’s (NIT) “Man of the Year” award at halftime of the event’s championship game Thursday night.

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The NIT annually cites a coach or administrator for outstanding contributions to basketball. Texas Tech coach Bob Knight won the award last year.

“The legacy of basketball people who have won this award is very rich,” KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said. “Lew Perkins certainly fits that mold in what he has accomplished in the field of intercollegiate athletics.”

Perkins has led athletic departments at four NCAA Division I institutions: Kansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Wichita State. He was honored in 2000 as the inaugural winner of the National Athletic Director of the Year Award as selected by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal. His leadership at UConn influenced five NCAA Division I National Championships, including four in women’s basketball in 1995, 2000, 2002 and 2003, and men’s basketball in 1999.

Perkins has also served on two prestigious national-level NCAA committees: the NCAA Championships & Competition Cabinet and the NCAA Bowl Certification Committee.

Perkins played college basketball at Iowa for Hall of Fame coach and KU graduate Ralph Miller.