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HUGH DURHAM
MID-MAJOR COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD |
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April 4, 2008 |
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OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
HughDurhamAward.com
PRESS RELEASE:
2008 Durham Award
Finalists
THE AWARD:
Download the 2008
Award |
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BOSTON
(MA) -- After leading Drake to a 28-5 mark and the
schools first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1971,
Keno Davis has been selected the recipient of the 2008
Hugh Durham Coach of the Year Award.
The award, which is voted on by a 20-member selection
panel that includes current and former head coaches
and is chaired by Hugh Durham, is presented annually
at the Final Four to the top Mid-Major Coach in
America.
Davis was also one of ten finalists for the Jim Phelan
National Coach of the Year, also presented by
CollegeInsider.com
“Keno did an incredible job this season,” says
CollegeInsider.com’s Matt Drake. “His team dominated
one of the stronger conferences in college basketball
and he did it with walk-ons and players not highly
recruited. It’s one of the best jobs anyone has done
in recent memory.”
Davis took a team picked to finish ninth in the
Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll and guided
Drake to both the regular-season crown and league
tournament title.
Under Davis, Drake was nationally ranked in both the
Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll for a
school-record eight straight weeks, including a No. 14
rating in the latest poll released on March 18.
Racing off to a 16-1 start, the Bulldogs cracked the
top 25 polls for the first time on Jan. 21, being
rated No. 22 in the Associated Press poll and No. 23
in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. That marked the
first top 25 appearances by a Drake team since the
Bulldogs were ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press
poll during the last three weeks of the 1974-75
campaign.
The Bulldogs' ascent to the top of the Missouri Valley
Conference was all the more remarkable considering
Davis inherited a 17-15 team in which graduation
claimed four senior starters.
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