Mark Few, who guided Gonzaga to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, has been named winner of the Henry Iba Award, given annually by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to the national coach of the year. The announcement came today as the Zags prepared for their first-round NCAA Tournament game against South Dakota State.
Under Few, the Bulldogs posted their second No. 1 national ranking in program history this season and won the West Coast Conference regular-season and tournament championships for a fifth straight year with a team comprised of nine new players. At one point, the Zags were 29-0.
Gonzaga enters the tournament with a 32-1 record, the 10th consecutive season Gonzaga has had at least 25 wins under Few and the third time in school history with 30 or more victories in a season.
Few, in his 18th season as head coach at Gonzaga, has led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament every year and to the Sweet 16 six times. He is two wins shy of 500 career victories with an overall record of 498-112.
“This is a great honor, because it is from the people who cover college basketball day in and day out, so they understand what it takes to have a year like this,” Few said. “We have great players and a great staff. I’m appreciative and humbled by this honor.”
Few will be formally presented with the Henry Iba Award at the USBWA’s annual honors luncheon at the Final Four in Phoenix on Monday, April 3. He is the first coach from the West Coast Conference to be selected as national coach of the year by the USBWA.
The Henry Iba Award is named in honor of the legendary coaching great at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) who won two NCAA championships and two gold medals and one silver as coach of the U S. Olympic teams. The award is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA.
 |
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected a national coach of the year since the 1958-59 season.
http://www.gozags.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031517aaa.html
