The University of Akron Athletics
Dambrot Fourth In Ohio College Coach-of-the-Year Balloting
May 06 | Men's Basketball
– Fifth-year University of Akron head men's basketball
coach Keith Dambrot placed fourth in the Ohio College
Coach-of-the-Year Award voting, conducted annually by The
Columbus Dispatch. Out of the 47 schools in the state of Ohio
(including all divisions), 13 coaches received votes. Thirty-one
coaches voted in the poll on a 3-2-1 basis, with three points for a
first-place tally.
Findlay's Ron Neikamp ran away with the award on the strength of 72
points (23 first-place votes). Xavier's Sean Miller placed second,
with 30 votes (two first place), and Cleveland State's Gary Waters
was third (28 votes, 2 first place) followed by Dambrot (14 votes,
2 first place). In his 24th season, Neikamp guided Findlay to a
36-0 record and the NCAA Division II national championship.
Coincidentally, Dambrot was the runner-up for the award in 1991
when coach at Ashland (Ohio State's Randy Ayers claimed the honor
that year).
Dambrot led Akron to a 23-13 record (10-6 Mid-American Conference),
its first-ever MAC Tournament championship and first appearance in
the NCAA Tournament since 1986. The Zips closed out the campaign
ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 for the fourth
time in as many years – being listed No. 25. UA was picked to
finish fourth in the MAC's East Division in a preseason media poll
and featured one of the youngest team's in the nation in 2008-09,
starting a pair of freshman and having three freshman and three
sophomores log considerable minutes as part of its 10-man
rotation.
Dambrot was one of three MAC coaches to be recognized in the
balloting, with Bowling Green's Louis Orr earning two votes and
Miami's Charlie Coles getting one. Orr was the league's
coach-of-the-year recipient after guiding the Falcons to the
conference's regular-season championship and top seed in the MAC
Tournament. In the tournament, BGSU was upset by fifth-seeded Akron
in the semifinal round.
After defeating Buffalo 65-53 in the MAC Tournament championship
game at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on March 14, 13th-seeded
Akron lost 77-64 to 10th-ranked and fourth-seeded Gonzaga in the
NCAA Tournament first round at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.,
on March 19. UA held Gonzaga, which advanced to the Sweet 16, in
check for over 30 minutes – leading 52-51 with just over nine
minutes remaining in regulation before the Bulldogs pulled
away.
Dambrot, named 2009 "Best Mid-Major Coach" by Dan Wetzel of
Yahoo Sports, closed out his fifth season at the helm of
the UA program with a 115-51 (.693) record. His win percentage and
win total both rank fourth in program history, and the 115
victories are the most by a MAC team during that span.
Last weekend, Dambrot participated in the Spring Nike Championship
Basketball Clinic at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Along with fellow collegiate coaches Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Jim
Calhoun (UConn), Tim Floyd (USC) and Jay Wright (Villanova),
Dambrot discussed offensive concepts.
The Akron basketball program has a unique relationship with Nike,
and entered a three-year partnership with the company in June 2008
under which the Zips' shoes, game uniforms, warms ups, practice
gear and accessories would all be licensed under the Nike and
LeBron James "LJ23" Trademarks. Dambrot and James have a
long-standing relationship. As head coach of Akron's St.
Vincent-St. Mary High School (1998-99 through 2000-01 season),
Dambrot won a pair of state championships (2000 and 2001) with
James being a key component of the squad (his freshman and
sophomore seasons).
2009 Ohio College Basketball Coach-of-the-Year Award:
1. Ron Niekamp, Findlay (23) – 72
2. Sean Miller, Xavier (2) – 30
3. Gary Waters, Cleveland State (2) – 28
4. Keith Dambrot, Akron (2) – 14
5. Mike Moran, John Carroll – 13
6. Damon Goodwin, Capital – 9
7. Brian Gregory, Dayton (2) – 8
8. Brad Brownell, Wright State – 2
9. K.C. Hunt, Wilmington – 2
10. Doug Lewis, Central State – 2
11. Louis Orr, Bowling Green – 2
12. Charlie Coles, Miami (Ohio) – 1
13. Pat Estepp, Cedarville – 1
Results of voting by coaches (first-place votes worth three
points, second-place two points and third-place one point;
first-place votes in parentheses).
