ATLANTA - Haverford College women's basketball coach Bobbi Morgan was recognized for her squad's historic season on Thursday as the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Morgan as one of eight 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division III Regional Coaches of the Year.

Morgan is now one of 10 finalists (eight region winners plus two at-large honorees) eligible to win the inaugural Pat Summitt Trophy which will be presented to the 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year.

Also named the Centennial Conference Coach of the Year, Morgan guided the Fords to a new heights in 2013-14 as the squad authored an extraordinary campaign that included the first Centennial title and NCAA tournament victory in program history, new records for conference (15) and overall wins (24) and many other program firsts while providing the Haverford fans many lasting memories.

In her sixth season at the helm of the program, Morgan's squad registered almost as many wins this season (24) as the program had total in the six seasons (28) prior to Morgan's arrival at Haverford.

The national coach of the year will be named during the fourth annual WBCA Awards Show on Monday, April 7, in the Omni Nashville Hotel's Broadway Ballroom. This event is part of the WBCA National Convention and is held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four.

This is the first year the physical award presented to the six Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coaches of the Year has borne Summitt's name. It will be the only national coach of the year award to do so. The legendary University of Tennessee head coach, who stepped down in April 2012, is the winningest basketball coach (men's or women's) in NCAA Division I history with 1,098 career victories. Summitt led the Lady Vols to eight NCAA Division I national championships and was named the Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year three times in her career.

"The WBCA congratulates these coaches on being named finalists for the Pat Summitt Trophy presented to the 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA Division III National Coach of the Year," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "Each coach helped lead their team to outstanding seasons and was selected by their peers to be candidates for this honor. On behalf of the WBCA and its members, I wish all of these finalists the best of luck at the WBCA Awards show in Nashville."

"We would like to congratulate these coaches for being named finalists for the 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division III Coach of the Year Award," said Senior Vice President General Manager of Russell Athletic, Robby Davis. "Each of these coaches embodies the team concept we embrace at our Company, and we are pleased to honor them for a fantastic season."

Russell Athletic and the WBCA present the national coach of the year award annually in each of the six WBCA membership divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II and III; NAIA; junior/community college and high school). This is the 32nd year since 1983 that the WBCA has presented this honor to an NCAA Division III head coach.