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JR

Saturday, May 30, 2009

 

Sharp Named Jan Strickland Award Winner presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf


TOLEDO, 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.