Mar 11, 2010 9:00:23 AM

The National Association of Basketball Coaches will present its 14th annual Division III Outstanding Service Award to recently retired coaches at Bridgewater (Virginia) and Hanover.

Hanover's Mike Beitzel and Bridgewater's Bill Leatherman will be honored April 3 during the NABC convention in Indianapolis. Both retired from after the 2007-08 season.

The award annually honors coaches whose actions "inside and outside the lines" of coaching have distinguished them as valuable members of their communities. The NABC has selected 34 Division III Outstanding Service Award recipients since the honor first was presented in 1997.

Beitzel, who played basketball at Wooster, coached for 20 seasons at Hanover, guiding the Panthers to a 370-181 record and five Division III Men's Basketball Championship appearances.

He was extremely active in the Lide White Boys and Girls Club of Madison, Indiana, and founded the Courtside Club, which sponsored speakers and special events on the Hanover campus.

Leatherman completed his 23-year career at Bridgewater with a 335-262 record and led three teams to Division III tournament appearances.

In 2006, he received the NABC's Guardians Award for Advocacy, one of the top honors a college coach can receive.

The NABC also will honor Jim Smith of St. John's (Minnesota) in Indianapolis. Smith was one of last year's Outstanding Service Award recipients but was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Detroit due to an injury he suffered shortly before the event.

Previous recipients of the award are:

1997: Jeff Gamber, York (Pennsylvania); Ed Hockenbury, Norwich; and Bill Knapton, Beloit.

1998: Herb Kenny, Wesleyan; Bill Sudeck, Case Western Reserve; and David Wells, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

1999: Will Renken, Albright; Charlie Titus, Massachusetts-Boston; and Al Van Wie, Wooster.

2000: Gale Daugherty, Ohio Northern, and Hal Nunnally, Randolph-Macon.

2001: Bob Bessoir, Scranton, and Jack Thurnblad, Carleton.

2002: Dave Jacobs, Whittier; Gene Mehaffey, Ohio Wesleyan; and Jim Wentworth, Wesley.

2003: C. Alan Rowe, Widener.

2004: Charlie Brock, Springfield, and Ken Kaufman, Worcester Polytechnic.

2005: Phil Ness, Allegheny, and Joe Ramsey, Blackburn and Millikin.

2006: Jim Burson, Muskingum; Joe Campoli, Ohio Northern; and Jim Nelson, Suffolk.

2007: Bob Johnson, Emory & Henry; Gary Smith, Redlands; and Ira Zeff, Nebraska Wesleyan.

2008: Rick Bowen, Wisconsin-River Falls; and Thomas Murray, Hamilton.

2009: Bo Ryan, Wisconsin-Platteville; Jim Smith, St. John's (Minnesota); and Mike Turner, Albion.