(Photo: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports)
Xavier men's basketball coach Chris Mack was shut out of Big East Coach of the Year, an award shared by Seton Hall's Kevin Willard and Villanova's Jay Wright, but he did one better by being named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's National Coach of the Year.
Mack garnered the Henry Iba Award shortly before the conference announced its major winners. The USBWA's nod was fitting for these reasons:
- Xavier began the season unranked in both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls and was picked fourth in the Big East.