Adams, Paquette, Quinlan Receive 2013 Distinguished Service Awards; Taylor Tapped for "Good Guy" Award
Special Award Winners Named for 80th Annual Haggerty Awards Dinner
FFI: Chuck Stogel, 914-428-6111, chstogel@aol.com
NEW YORK (April 12, 2013) – St. Peter’s athletic director Joe Quinlan, Big East associate commissioner John Paquette and veteran official Bob Adams were presented with Distinguished Service Awards by the Met Basketball Writers Association at the 80th All Met Haggerty Awards Dinner on April 15 at the Westchester Marriott.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference associate commissioner Ken Taylor received the Mike Cohen “Good Guy” Award.
The Haggerty Dinner is the longest running college basketball awards program conducted by a media group in the United States.
Wherever he has posted his nameplate, Quinlan has won respect and admiration throughout the world of collegiate athletics. Currently, he is the director of athletics at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, after having held the same title at Seton Hall. He began his career as the SID at Loyola in Baltimore, before securing his first stint at SHU. Quinlan worked in sports information for the Pirates, then was assistant director of athletics when the men’s team reached the 1989 NCAA championship game.
Among other jobs, he’s served as assistant director of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship, assistant AD at St. Bonaventure, joined the New Jersey Sports Authority where he headed the Meadowlands Organizing Committee for the 1996 NCAA Final Four, and held the posts of senior associate athletics director and then deputy director of athletics at Rutgers. Quinlan and his wife, Noreen, have one daughter. They live in Montclair, NJ.
Having joined the Big East Conference in 1990, Paquette has served as media coordinator for 23 conference tournaments. A native of White Plains, NY, who grew up in Norristown, PA, Paquette graduated from Marquette in 1978 with a Journalism degree. His first fulltime job was as SID at Wagner (1980-82), where PJ Carlesimo was athletic director and basketball coach.
Prior to joining the Big East, Paquette was the SID at St. Peter’s (1982-84), assistant commissioner of the MAAC (1984-86) and assistant athletic director/SID at Seton Hall (1986-90). He was presented with the MBWA’s “Good Guy” Award in 1989, the year that Seton Hall, coached by Carlesimo, advanced to the NCAA men’s Final Four championship game and finished as runnerup with a one-point loss in overtime.
A distinguished and well respected basketball referee since 1982, officiating is in Adams’ blood. His father, Bill, was a longtime high school referee on Long Island. A 1976 graduate of Colgate with a degree in Economics, Adams played basketball for the Raiders and was named to the All ECAC First Team as a senior. After playing professionally for four years in France, he secured a law degree from Pace University in 1986.
Along with officiating basketball, Adams is currently a fulltime arbitrator and mediator with National Arbitration and Mediation Services. Adams’ officiating resume includes affiliations with seven conferences: America East, Big East, CAA, Ivy, MAAC, NEC and Patriot. He has been called on to referee in nine NCAA Tournaments and at the NIT Finals. A native of Carle Place, NY, Adams and his wife, Sue – a former high school basketball coach – live in White Plains, NY. They have three children.
The associate commissioner for men’s basketball (and baseball) at the MAAC, Taylor is as well-suited as anyone could be for the job they have. Taylor coordinates the 36-game MAAC television package, officiating bureaus, in-season scheduling and administration of the conference’s basketball and baseball championships. Previously as assistant commissioner for championships, he managed operations for 22 different MAAC sports.
A Michigan grad (1997) with a Master’s degree in Sports Administration from Wayne State (2003), Taylor joined the MAAC in 1999. In addition to the mark he has made on collegiate athletics in the Met area, he also has been visible on the national scene. Among other NCAA activities, he represented the MAAC on the NCAA Division I Championships and Competition Cabinet (2004-05).
Taylor is a “people person” in the finest Mike Cohen “Good Guy” tradition. He and his wife Sandra --- who is the academic advisor for student-athletes at NJIT --- have two daughters and reside in Monroe Township, NJ.
--- MBWA ---
FFI: Chuck Stogel, 914-428-6111
chstogel@aol.com