INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Division II schools and conferences have submitted a total of 231 nominations for the 50th Anniversary Gold Award. This award, which is part of the division's yearlong 50th anniversary celebration that launched Aug. 7 and will extend through the 2024 Division II Baseball Championship in June, will recognize two individuals (one individual who identifies as male and one who identifies as female) who have made a positive impact in Division II.

The nominees include current and former student-athletes, coaches, faculty members and administrators from active member schools and conferences who have helped shape Division II over time.

"The nominees reflect the considerable impact so many individuals have had on intercollegiate athletics over the years but also the pride the Division II membership demonstrates consistently in providing the experiences that enable young people to make a positive difference in the world," said Terri Steeb Gronau, vice president of Division II.

Conference offices will review the nominated individuals and select two conference winners (one individual who identifies as male and one who identifies as female) by Nov. 6. The NCAA Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee will review the finalists and select the two overall winners, who will be recognized at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix.

"The quality of nominees will certainly make it challenging for the Division II Identity Subcommittee to recommend just two Gold Award recipients," Steeb Gronau said. "It truly is eye-opening to read through the candidates' accomplishments and realize how their contributions have made us better as a division."
 
As part of the anniversary celebration, Division II also will provide a commemorative scholarship opportunity for student-athletes from active member schools who exhibit the core values of Division II and have not yet exhausted their athletics eligibility. Two recipients from each conference and two representing the independent institutions will be announced in May during the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships Festival in Orlando, Florida. Nomination procedures for the scholarship will be announced to the Division II membership in January.
 
Five people from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) were nominated, including two from Winston-Salem State University, Dr. Carolyn Anderson and Clarence E. Gaines. Also, from the CIAA were Commissioner Jacqueline McWilliams-Parker, Clyde Doughty Jr., (Bowie State), and LaTaya Hillard-Gray (Elizabeth City).

A known advocate for students and student-athletes, Dr. Anderson was an easy nomination. Having earned a degree in mathematics from Appalachian, Anderson became the university's first African-American, full-time faculty member. She taught in the Department of Mathematics. Anderson held faculty or administrative posts at Livingstone College and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College before retiring as associate director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Winston-Salem State University. She is a member of the HORN$ and gives annually to the Department of Athletics.

Clarence E. Gaines became the head football and basketball coach, athletic director, trainer, and ticket manager. Gaines coached football from 1946-1949. In 1948 Gaines was named CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) "Football Coach of the Year" after leading the RAMS to an 8-1 season. Beginning in 1949 Gaines only coached basketball and served as athletic director. In 1950 Gaines received his master's degree in education from Columbia University. Due to his proficiency as an athletic coach, teacher and humanitarian, Gaines has received numerous awards: CIAA Basketball Tournament Outstanding Coach Award; 1953, 57, 60, 61, 63, 66, 70, 77; CIAA Hall of Fame Inductee, 1975; NAIA Helms Hall of Fame Inductee, 1968; N.C. Sports Hall of Fame, 1978; CIAA Basketball Coach of the Year, 1957, 61, 63, 70, 75, 80; NAIA District 26 Outstanding Coach Award, 1975-78; Paul Robeson Award, 1980; Winston-Salem Urban League Family of the Year Award, 1973; Order of the Long Leaf Pine (N.C.); and the Silver Buffalo Award (Boy Scouts of America), etc.
 
During Coach Gaines' 47-year tenure as coach and athletic director at Winston-Salem State University he coached former WSSU and professional basketball greats Cleo Hill (first African-American from a historically Black college and university to be drafted #1 by the National Basketball Association -- St. Louis Hawks, 1961) and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and all-star performer) of the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks. Upon his retirement as basketball coach at Winston-Salem State University in 1993, Gaines had amassed a win/loss record of 828-446, making him the winningest active basketball coach in NCAA history, and the second-winningest collegiate basketball coach behind the University of Kentucky's late Adolph Rupp. However, following University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith's 877th career win in March 1997, coach Gaines became the third-winningest basketball coach in NCAA history behind only Adolph Rupp (2nd), and Dean Smith (1st).