MAC Announces Top Two Individual Awards
March 6, 2002
The head coach who led his team to a Mid-American Conference record 17 league wins and the player that leads the MAC in scoring with the highest average since Wally Szczerbiak were honored today as the MAC Coach of the Year and Player of the Year. The respective honorees were Kent State head coach Stan Heath and Bowling Green senior guard Keith McLeod.
Heath, in his first year as a head coach after serving five years on Tom Izzo's staff at Michigan State, guided Kent State to its first ever MAC Championship with a 17-1 record and a No. 1 tournament seed. The Golden Flashes became the first-ever MAC team to win 17 league games in a season and have a 15-game winning streak heading into Thursday's quarterfinal game in the MAC Tournament at Gund Arena.
Following a 4-4 start to the season, the Golden Flashes have won 20 of 21 games with only a 66-65 loss at Buffalo spoiling the record. The 15 wins in a row ranks third in the nation and is the fourth longest in MAC history. In addition, KSU leads the MAC in scoring defense (63.5), field goal percentage defense (41.1%), scoring margin (+12.6) and rebound margin (+6.6).
Heath, a 1988 graduate of MAC member school Eastern Michigan, joins former Kent State coaches Gary Waters (1999 and 2000) and Jim McDonald (1990) as Golden Flashes' mentors to win the league's coach of the year honor.
McLeod, a graduate of McKinley High School in Canton, Ohio, leads the Falcons into the MAC Tournament with a league high 22.3 points per game scoring average, the highest by a MAC player since Miami All-American Wally Szczerbiak led the league with a 24.2 ppg average in 1999. McLeod became known for his clutch shooting late in the game and keyed several late rallies that punctuated BG's 22-7 season and 12-6 MAC record.
McLeod also ranks 11th in the league in field goal percentage (44.3%), ninth in free throw percentage (81.2%), second in steals (2.0 per game), third in three-point percentage (41.8%) and fourth in three-point field goals per game (2.62). McLeod started 28 of the Falcons 29 games and averaged 33.2 minutes per game for the 29-game schedule. He also added 85 assists and averaged 4.1 rebounds per game.
McLeod joins Anthony Stacey (2000), Antonio Daniels (1997) and Jim Penix (1970) as previous Bowling Green players to win the award.
Vote Totals (from MAC News Media Association members)
Player of the Year: Keith McLeod, Bowling Green (30), Theron Smith, Ball State (24), Leon Rodgers, Northern Illinois (7), Trevor Huffman, Kent State (3), Antonio Gates, Kent State (1), Brandon Hunter, Ohio (1), Andrew Mitchell, Kent State (1).
Coach of the Year: Stan Heath, Kent State (43), Robert McCullum, Western Michigan (10), Charlie Coles, Miami (4), Rob Judson, Northern Illinois (4), Tim Buckley, Ball State (3), Reggie Witherspoon, Buffalo (3).
