EDINBURG – The Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) will honor University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball head coach Larry Tidwell as the TABC Division I Women's Basketball Coach of the Year during their annual awards ceremony on Thursday at St. Mary's University in San Antonio.
 
It is the second time Tidwell has earned the honor, as he was previously recognized in 2009-10 while serving as the head coach at Lamar.
 
"It's really cool. I've been an active member of TABC since the beginning, and it's a very good organization that promotes basketball throughout the state of Texas," Tidwell said. "The TABC has over 5,000 members, and to be voted on by my peers in the association is a very nice honor, but it's not about me, it's about our program. We came a long way, and that's due to the efforts of our players, assistant coaches and administration putting us in a position to be successful."
 
In Tidwell's second season at the helm, the Broncs had the best season in program history in 2014-15, breaking 40 different program records and tying 19 more en route to their first winning season (19-15) in 30 years at the NCAA Division I level, and first since 1982-83, when the Broncs went 10-5 at the NAIA Division II level. The Broncs also played in a postseason tournament for the first time, accepting a bid into the Women's Basketball Invitational, and a conference tournament championship game for the first time, coming within one win of earning the Western Athletic Conference's auto-bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Broncs had the winningest season in program history with 19 victories, shattering the old record of 14, which the Broncs tied during Tidwell's first season of 2013-14. That means the Broncs also broke the record for wins in a two-year span with 33. The previous record was 27. The Broncs had the lowest RPI in program history, by far, at 188, while tying for the best strength of schedule in program history, at 196.
 
Other program records the Broncs broke include conference wins (nine), conference tournament wins (two), home wins (12), neutral site wins (three) and conference road wins (four). Due to their success, the Broncs played more games than any previous team did, with 34 total games, compared to 31 by the next best team (2010-11).
 
The Broncs also broke the program records for points (2,181), rebounds (1,350), rebounds per game (39.71), steals (318), turnovers forced (701), field goals made and attempted (767-for-2,199), and free throws made and attempted (441-for-654).
 
One of the earliest signs of the Broncs' success came 19 games in, when the Broncs broke the program record for best start at 11-8. The Broncs then broke the program record for best 23-game start at 13-10, and never looked back, breaking the program record for every number of games after that.
 
The Broncs won a lot of their games by gaining extra possessions, as they ranked eighth out of 349 teams in the NCAA in turnover margin (+6.09), 24^th in offensive rebounding (16.0), 62^nd in steals per game (9.4), and 83^rd in fewest turnovers per game (14.5).
 
"Coach Tidwell is a great ambassador for basketball and he gets things done. He's made things happen so fast that it seems like he's been at UTPA forever," TABC Executive Director Rick Sherley said. "His teams always do good things on and off the court. They're a great example to all of our young people as far as community service and performance in the classroom. Coach Tidwell stresses the whole package and that's a trademark of all the teams he works with. He's gotten people exited about basketball at every level in the Rio Grande Valley. That's the way he is, He's also a great supporter of TABC, so we're excited to recognize him."
 
"Coach Tidwell is a dear close friend. He is a fierce competitor, great coach, great person, tireless worker, and a great recruiter," said Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Famer and former Mission, Mercedes and Weslaco High School girl's basketball head coach Rene Garza, who nominated Tidwell for the honor. "Coach Tidwell is a motivator and his passion for the game of basketball is impeccable. He is a perfect fit for UTPA. In two shorts years, he has built the women's basketball program into a contender by demonstrating the right tempo, interaction, intensity, and discipline. I also like how he promotes his team by reaching out across the entire Rio Grande Valley community."

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