Norm Kaye ("Coach K") founded the

Sunshine State Conference The Sunshine State Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of Florida, which is popularly kn ...

(SSC) of the U.S.

National Collegiate Athletics Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) in 1975 in Florida. The SSC is one of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

sports conferences in the United States, having won 83 national championships. The six charter conference members were: Biscayne College (now called St. Thomas University), Florida Technological University (now

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

Florida Southern Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

, and

Saint Leo College Saint Leo University is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine monast ...

. At the time of the conference's founding, Kaye was Athletic Director and Head Basketball Coach at

(now Saint Leo University). Kaye served as Commissioner of the SSC in its first year of existence, and then served as Executive Director of the conference for the following 12 years. He was instrumental in building the Saint Leo athletic program over the course of five decades. He pioneered the professional physical education program at Saint Leo, which included Sports Management, Teacher Education, and General Physical Education. In 1977 he was named Chairman of the Division of Physical Education. Kaye also served Saint Leo for a three-year period as Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Financial Aid. Kaye is credited with coaching and mentoring hundreds of successful athletes and students. Notable Saint Leo baseball players who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

include Fred Cambria,

Brian Dayett Brian Kelly Dayett (born January 22, 1957) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder who played five seasons between and for the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs. He also spent some time in Japan, playing for the Nippon-Ham Fighte ...

Bob Tewksbury Robert Alan Tewksbury (born November 30, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Mental Skills Coordinator for the Chicago Cubs. He played professionally for the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, T ...

, and Jim Corsi.

J. P. Ricciardi John Paul Ricciardi (born September 26, 1959) is a Major League Baseball executive currently serving as a special advisor to the president of baseball operations with the San Francisco Giants. He previously served as the general manager of the Tor ...

played baseball for Saint Leo and afterwards in the minor leagues before becoming a scout in the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

organization and later a front office position. Ricciardi later became General Manager of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and is special assistant to

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

General Manager

Sandy Alderson Richard Lynn "Sandy" Alderson (born November 22, 1947) is an American baseball executive. He is currently the president of the New York Mets. He previously served as the general manager of the New York Mets from 2011 to 2018, an executive in the O ...

. Current

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

General Manager

Brian Sabean Brian R. Sabean (born July 1, 1956), nicknamed "Sabes", is a former baseball executive. He was the executive vice president of baseball operations of the San Francisco Giants. He served as the team's general manager for eighteen seasons, from 1997 ...

was an assistant baseball coach at Saint Leo. In 1984 Kaye hired former Major League Baseball

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

Winner Mike Marshall to be head baseball coach at Saint Leo. Mark Carlson, a former student

sports information director A sports information director is a type of public relations worker who provides statistics, team and player notes and other information about a college or university's sports teams to the news media and general public. Abbreviated "SID," sports inf ...

for Kaye, is current Director of Broadcasting for the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

(USGA).

Awards

Kaye was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame. Kaye was inducted into the Saint Leo Hall of Fame in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaye, Norm Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Florida Saint Leo Lions athletic directors Saint Leo Lions men's basketball coaches Sunshine State Conference commissioners