Central Michigan Sweeps Mid-American Conference Player and Coach of the Year Awards
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- This year the Central Michigan Chippewas became the only team in Mid-American Conference history to go from worst to first. Finishing last in 2000 with a 2-16 league record, the Chippewas turned it around with a 14-4 record in 2001, capturing the MAC title for the first time since 1987.
Now the CMU program has been recognized and rewarded as head coach Jay Smith and junior guard David Webber captured, respectively, the league’s Coach of the Year and Player of the Year award for the 2001 season.
Smith, in his fourth year as the Chippewas’ mentor, guided the school to a 20-7 overall record and a 14-4 mark in the Mid-American Conference. In the process, CMU was crowned as MAC Champion and West Division champion this season. The season was the seventh in school history with 20 or more wins.
Smith becomes the first CMU coach to win the award since Charlie Coles in 1987. Ironically, Coles will be the opposing coach as he brings his Miami RedHawk squad to Cleveland to face the No. 1 seed Chippewas in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday at noon. Smith is the third CMU head coach in school history to win MAC Coach of the Year, joining Coles and Dick Parfitt (1975).
The Chippewas improvement by 15 games, from 6-23 last year to 20-7 this year, ties for the fifth best in NCAA history. CMU also had a MAC-best 11-game winning streak this season.
Webber leads the MAC in scoring with 18.8 points per game, ranks 20th in rebounding at 5.2 rebounds per game, 11th in field goal percentage at 44.6%, 14th in three-point field goals per game (1.88) and eighth in steals per game (1.54). Webber played in 26 of CMU’s 27 games, missing one contest due to pneumonia.
Three times Webber captured MAC West Division Player of the Week. Jan. 6, Webber scored 21 points in a 92-85 win at Bowling Green, a win that snapped the Falcons 20-game home winning streak in garnering his first player of the week honor. Webber began the year with a spectacular 24-point, 10-rebound performance in a 67-66 win at Purdue on Nov. 21, just prior to the Boilermakers win over then No. 1 ranked Arizona.
Webber becomes the third player in CMU history to win MAC Player of the Year, joining Dan Roundfield (1975) and Melvin McLaughlin (1982).
Vote Totals (78 ballots)
Player of the Year: David Webber, Central Michigan (36), Brandon Hunter, Ohio (18), Theron Smith Ball State (8), Trevor Huffman, Kent State (6), Tamar Slay, Marshall (5), Greg Stempin, Toledo (4), J.R. VanHoose, Marshall (1).
Coach of the Year: Jay Smith, Central Michigan (69), Gary Waters, Kent State (6), Dan Hipsher, Akron (2), Charlie Coles, Miami (1).
