May 30, 2007

LAS VEGAS - UNLV men's golf assistant coach Andy Bischel has been named the recipient of the 2007 Jan Strickland Assistant Coach of the Year Award presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Wednesday.

Bischel, who is in his ninth season with the Rebel golf team, has helped the squad to 17 tournament wins during his career. He aids the team as an assistant coach and also serves as academic advisor. Other responsibilities include fundraising and recruiting.

Under Bischel's leadership, the team has averaged better than a 3.0 grade point average and has produced 15 different academic all-conference honorees. The team has a current string of eight straight semesters with a 3.0 GPA or higher and the squad's 3.34 team GPA for spring 2007 is its highest since fall 1996. Bischel has also tutored five GCAA All-America Scholar Award winners.

"The Strickland Award has gone to outstanding coaches in the past," Bischel said. "I have a lot of respect for those guys and it is such an honor to be recognized with them."

Bischel resides in Las Vegas with his wife, Shannon, and two sons. His passion for his players and family is unmistakable.

"I love my job because of the relationships I build with our players," Bischel said. "It is a constant challenge to motivate them to accomplish more than they thought possible in the areas of athletics, academics and life. The work is emotionally demanding but the payoff is a lifetime of friendships."

The Strickland Assistant Coach of the Year Award is given to the NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA assistant coach that, among other things, has excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom. Along with the award, the recipient is allowed the opportunity to further their professional development by being a guest of TaylorMade-adidas Golf at the PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit as well as an invitation to the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Kingdom in Carlsbad, Calif.