Hokie ClubTOLEDO, Ohio -- Virginia Tech associate head coach Brian Sharp has been named the recipient of the 2009 Jan Strickland Award Presented by TaylorMade-Adidas to the Assistant Coach of the Year, as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America. The Strickland Award is given to the NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA assistant coach that, among other things, has excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom.
The award was presented Thursday night, May 28, at the annual awards banquet in Toledo, Ohio. The banquet is in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at the Inverness Club in Toledo. Jack Nicklaus was the keynote speaker at the banquet.
Sharp is in his sixth season at his alma mater. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1995 with a degree in finance and received his MBA from the Pamplin College of Business in 2006. During his career with the Hokies, he was a four-year member of the golf team. Sharp’s duties with the Hokies include recruiting, the off-season conditioning program, instruction and player academic progress, as well as managing the Virginia Tech Golf Team Complex.
“I am honored and quite humbled to receive the Jan Strickland Award and want to thank TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, the GCAA and the award committee for this recognition,” Sharp said. “Knowing what the other finalists have done for their respective programs and how deserving they are of this award, I was certainly surprised when I found out that I had been chosen as the winner. I am extremely grateful to Coach Hardwick and the Virginia Tech Athletic Department for the opportunity to do this job and the support that they, along with our group of “Hackin’ Hokies”, have given me and our program these past six years.
“The part I enjoy the most is working with our players each day, and hope that they will share in this award and know that their hard work is responsible for this accolade. Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my wife Margaret for her understanding and support every day; I would not be able to do this without her.”
Sharp came to Virginia Tech from the Buy.com Tour (currently the Nationwide Tour), where he played in 2002. Sharp turned professional in 1995 and played on various developmental tours before joining the Buy.com Tour. He won his first ever professional event in 1995 on the Powerbilt Tour at the Neuse Golf Club in Raleigh, N.C.
A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Sharp was captain of the 1994 and 1995 Hokie golf teams. He is married to the former Margaret Blackburn of Midlothian, Va. The couple resides in Blacksburg with daughter Meredith and son Cameron.
This is the seventh year that the award has been presented. Last season, California assistant Walter Chun was the recipient of the award.
“It was one of my proudest moments as a coach and a tremendous honor for our golf program to see Coach Sharp receive this outstanding and well-deserved award,” head coach Jay Hardwick said.
As the Strickland Award recipient, Sharp will have the opportunity to further his professional development by being a guest of TaylorMade-adidas golf at the PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit as well as an invitation to the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Kingdom in Carlsbad, Calif. Also, Sharp will be the assistant coach on the United States team for the 2010 Palmer Cup, to be played in Northern Ireland.
TaylorMade-adidas has sponsored the Strickland Award since its inception in 2003.