Michigan State guard Denzel Valentine has been named the AP Player of the Year, while Kansas’ Bill Self took home the Coach of the Year honor. Multiple sources reported the news on Twitter.
AP Player of the Year is Denzel Valentine and Coach of the Year is Bill Self.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 31, 2016
Denzel Valentine wins AP Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/az2GF0LeSf
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 31, 2016
Bill Self named AP Coach of the Year. pic.twitter.com/fZ5PvQAmZf
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 31, 2016
Valentine received 34 votes for AP Player of the Year. Buddy Hield received 31. AP Top 25 voters select the award
— Kyle Austin (@kylebaustin) March 31, 2016
There’s no doubt that Valentine was the one who would win the award, though Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield would give him a run for his money after advancing to the Final Four while Valentine’s Spartans were stunningly upset by No. 15 Middle Tennessee in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament. Valentine broke out his senior season, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 44 percent from long range, leading Michigan State to a Big Ten championship along the way.
Self also flourished at Kansas this season, his 13th with the Jayhawks. Kansas was the No. 1 overall team in the tournament this year and won its first Big 12 championship in three years, going 33-5 (15-3 Big 12) overall before falling to Villanova in the Elite Eight last weekend.
Needless to say, though there was more parity than some could handle in college basketball this season, the winners of the AP awards could not have gone to more deserving people than Denzel Valentine and Bill Self.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
