Rock Island Today

Grey Giovanine called this past season one of his most challenging and rewarding.

The longtime Augustana men's basketball coach, who just completed his 18th season at the school, had just gone through a roller-coaster ride that included the ups and downs of guiding a young team, a dramatic run through the NCAA Division III Tournament, and a close loss in the title game.

The postseason has brought an upswing, however, as Giovanine has been named the national co-Coach of the Year by D3Hoops.com, according to a report on Augustana's athletic website. Giovanine shared the award with Eric Bridgeland of Whitman.

Giovanine told Rock Island Today that winning the honor was flattering and humbling.

“I think it's always one of those things I just really feel you accept on behalf of the entire program,” he said.

The Vikings went into the 2016-17 season with just two seniors and a lot of sophomores, yet still went on to share the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title. Augustana then won five straight games in the national tournament to reach the championship game, but fell just short, losing 79-78 to Barson on March 18 in Salem, Virginia.

“I think initially it's heartbreaking you feel for the kids and know how hard it is to get in that position and come up a basket short is a real kick in the gut,” Giovanine said. “But I would also say that each day that goes by you begin to put it in perspective and appreciate just how remarkable the process was and what an amazing run it all was.”

The Vikings finished the season with a 24-9 record, giving Giovanine 364 career wins at Augustana. He previously earned national Coach of the Year honors in 2015 from Basketball Times.

Giovanine said he has improved as a coach through his family. He has three sons who have gone through the ages 15 through 22, so he has seen the challenges from issues with girlfriends to homesickness.

“I think I have a much better kind of empathy for what our guys are experiencing from the time we're recruiting them when they're juniors and seniors in high school to when they're in college because I've seen that in my kids,” Giovanine said.

Next season, almost all of this year's roster will be back and armed with the experience of this season's big tourney run. Giovanine said he would be surprised if the Vikings were not the preseason No. 1 team in Division III.

“The challenge now is for those guys to continue to develop and stay hungry, and I expect that they will,” he said.