In about a half hour, the Mid-American Conference will release its Player of the year and Coach of the Year Awards. Here are my picks, based on all the games I've watched in person, on TV or followed online all year (which, by the way, is a lot)
Player of the Year: Julian Mavunga, Miami
This was a very close race, but Mavunga opened it up Friday night against Ohio. He scored 23 points and added 13 rebounds as he out-dueled D.J. Cooper in Miami's win against the Bobcats. Mavunga dominated the second half, putting the team on his back much like he has all season, going to the rim time after time and making 15 of his 17 free throws. He's done it all year, especially since Antonio Ballard was lost to a wrist injury in late January.
Coach of the Year: Charlie Coles, Miami
It would be easy to give it to Geno Ford for leading Kent State to its second-consecutive MAC regular season title — something that hadn't been done in a decade. But Coles did an exceptional job with the third-seeded RedHawks. Miami played a meat-grinder schedule early against five top-10 teams in the nation. Despite an abundance of early losses, Coles kept the team mentally tough and the RedHawks stormed through MAC play with an 11-5 record, even without their senior leader, Ballard, for the final month. Very impressive job.
Freshman of the Year: Trey Zeigler, Central Michigan
This one was a bit easer to choose than the first two. Zeigler made a splash from day one and carried it through the rest of the season. His 16.5 points per game is in the top-10 nationally for freshmen, and he was third best in the MAC with an 18.2 ppg average in conference-only games. One year after a large senior class left Mount Pleasant, Zeigler led a charge that had the Chippewas close to .500 in the MAC by season's end
First Team All-MAC
Julian Mavunga, Miami
Brandon Bowdry, Eastern Michigan
Justin Greene, Kent State
D.J. Cooper, Ohio
Xavier Silas, Northern Illinois
Second Team All-MAC
Jarrod Jones, Ball State
Flen Whitfield, Western Michigan
Trey Zeigler, Central Michigan
Byron Mulkey, Buffalo
Zach Filzen, Buffalo
Freshman All-MAC Team
Trey Zeigler, Central Michigan
Javon McCrea, Buffalo
Matt Stainbrook, Western Michigan
Juwan Howard Jr., Western Michigan
Reese Holiday, Toledo
