University Times

Pitt head men’s basketball coach Ben Howland has garnered two more honors, the Naismith College Basketball Coach of the Year Award for 2002 and the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award. Howland was named Big East Coach of the Year earlier this month.

The Naismith Board of Selectors, a group of basketball coaches, journalists and administrators from across the country, picked Howland from a group of 20 semi-finalists.

The Iba award is voted on by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Howland also is under consideration for several other national coach of the year honors, including those awarded by the Associate Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and ESPN The Magazine. “Our success really has been the result of everyone’s hard work. With everyone’s combined efforts, our program has made leaps and bounds over the last three years,” Howland said.

Under Howland, Pitt at 29-5 is enjoying the best record in school history and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams.

Pitt plays Kent State tonight in Lexington, KY, in the third round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.