Courtesy of GoXavier.com
CINCINNATI – Xavier University head coach Chris Mack has earned a third major National Coach of the Year award. Mack was named today as the 2015-16 CBS Sports National Coach of the Year. Mack, who was selected the winner of the 2015-16 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Henry Iba Award for National Coach of the Year earlier this month, has also been named 2015-16 National Coach of the Year by Basketball Times magazine. Mack is Xavier’s first-ever national coach of the year.
Xavier recorded a final overall record of 28-6 overall and finished second in the BIG EAST at 14-4. XU reached the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Mack, 162-77 (.678) in seven seasons at the helm at his alma mater, ranks second all-time in career wins at Xavier. Mack has led XU to six NCAA Tournaments in seven years. Mack is the only Xavier coach ever to lead three XU teams to the NCAA Sweet 16, including 2015, 2012 and 2010.
Xavier, which began the 2015-16 season unranked in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls and picked fourth in the BIG EAST Conference, finished second in the BIG EAST at 14-4 and was ranked No. 9 in both major national polls heading into the NCAA Tournament, including the final AP Poll. XU earned a second seed in the NCAA Tournament. Xavier spent 17 straight weeks in the AP Top 25, including 14 straight weeks in the AP Top 10. XU was 6-1 vs. the AP Top 25 this season, including a 3-0 record vs. the AP Top 10, and was 11-4 against the teams in the 2016 NCAA Tournament field.
In addition to the three National Coach of the Year awards he has won, Mack has been named one of the four finalists for the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year award. The winner of that award will be announced on Sunday, April 3 at the Naismith Awards Brunch delivered by UPS at the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Houston.
Mack will accept the USBWA National Coach of the Year award at an awards banquet in Oklahoma City on Monday, April 11.
Leave a Reply