Feb. 20, 2007
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Vanderbilt men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings has been named one of 15 finalists for the 2007 Jim Phelan national coach of the year award.
Stallings has directed one of the nation’s top turnaround stories in college basketball this season, leading Vanderbilt back from a 1-3 start to an 18-8 overall mark, 8-4 record in the Southeastern Conference and national rankings in this week’s Associated Press poll (17th) and ESPN-USA Today poll (21st).
The Commodores moved into sole possession of second place in the SEC Eastern Division Saturday when Vanderbilt defeated top-ranked Florida 83-70 at Memorial Gymnasium. The upset snapped Florida’s nation-best 17-game win streak and marked the Commodores’ sixth win over a ranked opponent this season – tied with North Carolina and Southern California for the second most in the nation. Only UCLA has more victories over AP poll ranked opponents with eight.
Stallings is joined on the list by Jim Baron (Rhode Island), Tony Bennett (Washington State), John Calipari (Memphis), Billy Donovan (Florida), Mark Fox (Nevada), Billy Gillispie (Texas A&M), Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech), Ben Howland (UCLA), Todd Lickliter (Butler), Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois), Gregg Marshall (Winthrop), Thad Matta (Ohio State), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) and Cliff Warren (Jacksonville).
The Jim Phelan Award is given annually to the nation’s top coach, as voted on by the 20-member panel. The winner will be presented with the award at the Final Four in Atlanta.
Prior to 2003 the award was known simply as the CollegeInsider.com national coach of the year. It was renamed to honor longtime Mount St. Mary’s head coach Jim Phelan who retired following the 2002-03 season.
Previous winners are Howland (2006), Tubby Smith (Kentucky, 2005), Phil Martelli (St. Joseph’s, 2004) and Mark Slonaker (Mercer, 2003).
AWARDS FOR BYARS CONTINUE: SEC Player of the Week Derrick Byars also has received national praise for his efforts against Florida last weekend. Vanderbilt’s senior wing player has been named national player of the week by both ESPN college basketball expert Dick Vitale and CollegeInsider.com.
Continuing to showcase himself as one of the SEC’s most elite players, Byars tied teammate Shan Foster for game-high honors against the Gators with 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting while tying his career high with eight assists and establishing a new personal best with five steals. Earlier in the week, Byars posted a career-high with 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting and seven rebounds in Vanderbilt’s 78-68 win over South Carolina on Feb. 14.
The Memphis native ranks second in the SEC averaging 19.7 points since the start of league play. Byars also ranks among the top players in the conference in field goal shooting (sixth at 51.8 percent), 3-point shooting (sixth at 41.3 percent) and 3-pointers made (seventh at 2.58 per game) against SEC competition.
