CHICAGO – Former Northeastern women's basketball standout Kash Cannon was honored on May 18 as the 2018 Jr. NBA Coach of the Year at the Jr. NBA Youth Basketball Leadership Conference in Chicago.
 
The award is presented annually to a youth basketball coach in an NBA or WNBA team market who is making a positive impact on children by demonstrating outstanding integrity, character, and leadership. Cannon had received the Boston Celtics' nomination for her work with Shooting Touch: G3 (Getting Girls in the Game).
 
As its program director, Cannon creates and implements a youth basketball curriculum that focuses on health and wellness, goal setting, and female empowerment. In addition to teaching on-court skills, she leads Shooting Touch: G3 in its mentoring partnership with female Boston Police officers, college preparedness activities, cooking classes, access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and its rapport with local college student-athletes. Cannon also builds relationships with the mothers of her girls, stressing the importance of the family unit while trying to increase healthy outcomes.
 
"I do dedicate a lot of time and passion into the youth because a lot of the girls I work with, I have the same background." Cannon said. "So, it's important to me to dedicate my life to giving back and creating engagement to educate the leaders of the future."
 
A native of inner-city Providence, Cannon turned to basketball to overcome personal adversity. She became the first person in her family to attend college, thriving at Northeastern as a women's basketball student-athlete, making 120 appearances from 2008 to 2013.
 
Cannon is a member of the Huskies' 1,000-point scoring club (1,053 career points) and ranks third all-time in 3-point field goal percentage (36.6). Following her graduation, she served as the Northeastern women's basketball team's director of operations for four seasons.
 
After being named one of eight national semifinalists for Jr. NBA Coach of the Year on April 9, Cannon was chosen as one of three finalists through a selection process that featured a combination of fan voting and screening by the award's executive panel. She was named the winner ahead of the nominees from the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic.