After orchestrating the biggest one-year turnaround of any Division I men's basketball program this year, the Gophers' Richard Pitino was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by both the media and coaches.
Pitino, 34, is the youngest to win conference Coach of the Year honors since the award's inaugural season in 1974.
"I always did feel like we would turn the corner," Pitino said on Big Ten Network, where the awards were announced Monday. "For me to get this award is humbling, and I'm very appreciative of it. My staff and my team, they all have been really easy to coach and to be around. They made me a better coach."
Helping Pitino go from 8-23 last year to 23-8 this season and likely his first NCAA tournament were several Gophers earning individual honors Monday, headed by juniors Nate Mason and Reggie Lynch.
Mason, the 6-2 guard who averaged a team-best 15.5 points, is the program's first All-Big Ten first team selection since Vincent Grier in 2005. Lynch, the 6-10 center who led the league in blocks with 3.7 per game, earned the first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honor since Travarus Bennett shared the award with Indiana's Dane Fife in 2002.
Northwestern's Chris Collins was recently named a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award. Pitino was snubbed from a list that included Louisville coach Rick Pitino, his father.
But Richard Pitino coached the Gophers to a school-record 15-win improvement from last season, which included going from a 2-16 to 11-7 conference record. Collins' team improved by only one victory, going from 20-12 last season to 21-10 this year. But the Wildcats are the biggest story going into the NCAA tournament, as they are expected to make their first trip to the Big Dance ever.
"But from where we came from last year to where we are now, it's a complete turnaround," Mason said Sunday. "[Pitino] molded us, not only on the court, but off the court into men."
