In his fourth year of coaching the Lady Cards, Landers has guided his team to a regional championship this year. The team has posted a remarkable 32-0 record thus far this season. Last year, the team posted a 30-1 record. Landers will lead his undefeated team into tournament play tonight when they face Gadsden State Community College in the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship Tournament. Before coaching at Trinity Valley, Landers was the head coach at East Texas Baptist University, where he compiled a 75-16 record in three years.

"RUSSELL ATHLETIC congratulates Coach Landers of Trinity Valley Community College, as the 2004 RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA Junior College/Community College Coach of the Year," said Rod McGeachy, Vice President of Marketing. "We respect the commitment that all coaches make to their team and their sport and we at RUSSELL ATHLETIC are proud to be associated with this special achievement in Coach Lander's life."

Landers is one of six WBCA National Coaches of the Year selected by the Association, which also names winners for each of the other four WBCA collegiate divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, and NAIA) and high school. Each collegiate winner is selected through a two-level process. The first level is by region, in which coaches from each WBCA geographical region vote for their respective top coach. Landers, having received the most votes in WBCA Region Six (6), advanced as a finalist to the national level of the selection process along with the other five Regional Coaches of the Year in JC/CC.

Landers and the national winners from the other five divisions will be presented to the WBCA membership at the RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA Coach of the Year Banquet on Tuesday, April 6 at 12:00 p.m., at the New Orleans Marriott. The banquet is part of the 2004 WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Women's Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game in all of its aspects as an amateur sport for women and girls. For more information about the WBCA, please visit WBCA.org.