Information from Pima’s media relations department contributed to this report.
Pima Community College women’s basketball coach Todd Holthaus earned his sixth NJCAA Region I West District Coach of the Year honor for the sixth time after leading the Aztecs to their sixth NJCAA Region I, Division II championship last month.
Holthaus was also named NJCAA Region I West District Coach of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2019.
“This season will go down as one of my most memorable for many reasons. However, the thing that’s most satisfying was the efforts of the group as a whole,” Holthaus said in a statement. “We had a lot of unknowns in terms of personnel. One starter, a couple with limited playing time, and a big group of untested freshmen. The coaches did an amazing job preparing them and game-by-game they got better.”
The Aztecs came into the 2019-20 season without NJCAA All-Americans Jacqulynn Nakai and Shauna Bribiescas, who went on to play at the four-year university level.
“We took our lumps along the way, but by the time it was all said and done, the ladies had amassed an incredible record (25-7 overall), only one loss to a Division II team (at Mesa Community College on Jan. 4), won their last nine in-a-row and beat Mesa at Mesa for the Region I, Division II championship (a first in the long rivalry),” Holthaus said.
“The only unfinished business was the trip to nationals (because of the cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic), where I believe we had a real chance to make a run. I couldn’t be prouder of the players or the coaches. It was a great season to be an Aztec.”
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Holthaus has a record of 292-136 in his 13 years at Pima. He has accumulated 459 wins overall in his coaching career.
The Aztecs finished with a record of 14-3 at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium this season. Since the 2015-16 season, the Aztecs have a home record of 63-14.
This was the ninth time in Holthaus’ 13 seasons with the program that they have earned 20 or more wins in a season. It is also the fifth straight season that his teams have won 15 games or more in ACCAC conference play.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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