AP College Basketball Awards: Frank Kaminsky, John Calipari Win Player, Coach of the Year Honors
ByThe Associated Press announced its annual Coach and Player of the Year Awards and both recipients were landslide selections.
According to ESPN, 58 of 65 voters supported Wisconsin's senior center Frank Kaminsky as the Player of the Year. John Calipari won Coach of the Year honors for leading his Kentucky Wildcats to a 38-0 record up to this point in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four.
Calipari will now go have to devise a game plan for his big, physical defense to try and contain Kaminsky, who also won the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Oscar Robertson Trophy.
With an imposing combination of size and athleticism, Calipari's defense was arguably the best in the nation. But Calipari's bigger feat was getting a number of potential NBA lottery draft picks to play in an unselfish offensive system. Six players averaged at least 8.7 points per game this season, but their leading scorer is averaging 11 per game. As a team, they average 75 points per game and wreak havoc on the offensive boards.
Kaminsky will lead a versatile, efficient offensive attack, though Wisconsin appears to have enough size to matchup with Kentucky. At seven-feet tall, Kaminsky has been a matchup nightmare, as he has shot 55 percent from the field, including a 41 percent three-point success rate. He also makes teams pay for fouling him, making more than three-quarters of his free throws.
Kaminsky is the first Wisconsin Badger to win the AP Player of the Year since its introduction in 1961. Also receiving votes were Duke center Jahlil Okafor, Kentucky center Willie Caulie-Stein and Notre Dame shooting guard Jerian Grant.
Competing with Calipari for votes was Virginia's Tony Bennett and Notre Dame's Mike Brey.