KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Towson Head Basketball Coach Pat Skerry received the 2015 Guardians of the Game Award for Service by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).  Skerry was presented the award at the annual AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show on Sunday, April 5, at the Muraf Theater at Old National Centre in Indianapolis.
 
Skerry, along with Georgia Tech assistant coach Tom Herrion, were honored for their efforts in bringing awareness to autism, the fastest growing developmental disorder in our society.
 
In 2014, the coaches, with help from their wives, Kristen Skerry and Leslie Herrion, sent out blue puzzle piece pins to all of the coaches who had a televised game on one weekend.  The puzzle piece is an awareness tool for people to learn more about autism.  Currently, 1-in-68 children, including 1-in-42 boys are affected.
 
This full-court press worked so well that almost every coach wore the pin on their lapel for national and regional television audiences. Coaches in the 2015 Final Four, including Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski, wore them, as well as many of the network broadcasters on the games.  It was the birth of Coaches Powering Forward for Autism benefitting Autism Speaks.
 
Coaches Powering Forward for Autism, benefitting Autism Speaks, had its second successful awareness campaign in February of this year and will continue its efforts to increase awareness, seek out available resources and raise funds for research.
 
About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
Located in Kansas City, MO, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas.  Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game.  The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches.  All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes.  The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.  Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.org.