NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Sacramento Monarchs Coach John Whisenant Friday was named the 2005 WNBA Coach of the Year.
He received 25 of a possible 50 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters after guiding the Monarchs to the second-best record in the league at 25-9 -- which also marked the most wins in franchise history. Sacramento registered the best home record in the league at 15-2, ending the year with 12 wins in its last 14 games.
The Monarchs captured their first-ever regular season conference title and earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They have gone 55-29 since Whisenant took over as head coach in the middle of the 2003 season.
Connecticut Coach Mike Thibault was second in the voting with 19 points. Also getting votes were Houston's Van Chancellor (3), Indiana's Brian Winters (1), Carrie Graf of Phoenix (1), who was fired on Friday, and New York's Pat Coyle (1).
