Amedro, Miller, Dixon Honored With 2009-10 Baisi Awards
4/28/2010 11:55:27 PM
(PRINCETON, W.Va.)---West Liberty's Zach Amedro, West Virginia State's Josh Miller, and Charleston's Tarenna Dixon are the 2009-10 winners of the Neal Baisi Awards presented by Beckley Newspapers. The ninth annual awards recognize the outstanding Mountain State natives on West Virginia Conference men's and women's basketball and football rosters.
The award is named for long-time West Virginia Tech athletic director and men's basketball coach Neal Baisi. He recorded a 263-82 record in a dozen seasons as the head of the Golden Bear basketball program. Baisi's team revolutionized college basketball with their high scoring ways. His 1954-55 Tech squad was the first collegiate team to average 100 points per game as the Golden Bears rang up 107.5 points per night. His teams won 20 or more games on ten occasions and never failed to win 18 or more contests during his final eleven seasons.
Baisi, who passed away in 2005, also was a part of WVIAC football championship squads at Potomac State and Tech. The Elkins native was a first team football all-conference pick at guard in 1949.
As a coach, his squads were comprised chiefly of Mountain State talent. All but six players during his tenure were natives of the Mountain State. 1968 Olympian and Richwood native Mike Barrett was among those in-state standouts.
The Baisi Award is only one of two awards that Amedro will receive at Sunday's Victory Awards Dinner presentation. The former John Marshall HS standout is also to be honored as the Hardman Trophy recipient for West Virginia's top amateur athlete.
The Moundsville native rewrote the West Liberty and WVIAC record books during his squad's league-championship 11-2 campaign. Amedro threw for a WVIAC single-season best 4,945 yards, a figure that ranks second all-time in the NCAA Division II ranks. He exceeded the 300-yard passing mark in each game and led the country with 49 touchdown passes.
Amedro's post-season honors have rolled in almost as quickly as West Liberty's quick strike attack put points on the scoreboard. He was the runner-up for the Harlon Hill Award (Division II's version of the Heisman Trophy), the first team quarterback on the Associated Press Little All-America squad, the WVIAC Offensive Player of the Year, and now tops off the year as the first two-time Baisi Award winner for football.
Much was expected of Miller's return to the Kanawha Valley and the Nebraska transfer did not disappoint in his first season at West Virginia State. The 5'6" junior guard helped the Jackets to a 29-4 record and a trip to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. He was named the WVIAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player after averaging 21.8 points and 6.0 assists per game in WVSU's run to the title.
The All-Atlantic Region first team honoree ranked among the conference leaders in scoring (19.7 ppg, 6th), assists (5.1 apg, 5th), and steals (2.6, 4th). The former Capital HS standout also garnered first team All-WVIAC accolades for the nationally-ranked Jackets.
Dixon emerged as one of the WVIAC's top inside forces during her junior season. The second-team all-league performer averaged 12.1 points per game and pulled down 9.2 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference.
The 5'11" junior forward recorded eight double-doubles to lead UC to 20-9 overall record and a third place WVIAC finish. The Morgantown native also was one of the conference's most accurate field goal shooters at 54.6 percent. Dixon, who starred in high school at University HS, is the second UC women's basketball Baisi Award winner as she joins two-time honoree Lisa Lee (2004-05, 2005-06).
The winners will be recognized at Sunday's West Virginia Sportswriters Association's Victory Awards Dinner in Morgantown. The 64th annual event serves as a showcase for West Virginia's top athletic achievers and personalities. It is the oldest statewide sports awards dinner in the United States.
Neal Baisi Award Recipients
Football:
2001: Bryan Harman (Fairmont State)
2002: Eric Smith (WVU Tech)
2003: Luke Struble (West Virginia Wesleyan)
2004: Jared Surbaugh (West Virginia Wesleyan)
2005: Derrick Stickles (West Liberty)
2006: Kashif Ealey (Glenville State)
2007: Zach Amedro (West Liberty)
2008: T.L. Asbury (Charleston)
2009: Zach Amedro (West Liberty)
Men's Basketball:
2001-02: Kevyn McBride (Alderson-Broaddus)
2002-03: Derek Jones (Charleston)
2003-04: Josh Allen (Alderson-Broaddus)
2004-05: Stephen Dye (Alderson-Broaddus)
2005-06: Shane Maynard (West Liberty)
2006-07: Ricky Yahn (Wheeling Jesuit)
2007-08: Chris Banal (West Liberty)
2008-09: Shane Maynard (West Liberty)
2009-10: Josh Miller (West Virginia State)
Women's Basketball:
2001-02: Tracy Wyatt (Glenville State)
2002-03: Tracy Wyatt (Glenville State)
2003-04: Ashlea Bland (West Liberty)
2004-05: Lisa Lee (Charleston)
2005-06: Lisa Lee (Charleston)
2006-07: Casey Taylor (Glenville State)
2007-08: Samm Nester (Concord)
2008-09: Mallory Menendez (Glenville State)
2009-10: Tarenna Dixon (Charleston)