HOUSTON — Denzel Valentine of Michigan State is The Associated Press Player of the Year, edging out Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield by three votes. Valentine is the first Spartans player to win the award.
Bill Self of Kansas won Coach of the Year after leading the Jayhawks to a 12th straight Big 12 title and the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Self and Valentine accepted the awards Thursday in Houston ahead of the Final Four.
Valentine received 34 of 65 votes from the national media panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25. Hield was the only other player to receive votes. Hield and Valentine were the only unanimous selections to the AP All-America team announced earlier this week.
Valentine, a 6-foot-5 senior, led Michigan State (29-6) to a second-place finish in the Big Ten regular season and was the conference player of the year. He averaged 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists. He shot 44.7 percent from 3-point range and 85.3 percent from the free-throw line.
The Spartans were ranked No. 1 for four weeks and finished second in the final AP Top 25. They lost to Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Self received 21 votes. Chris Mack of Xavier was second with 15 votes, and Dana Altman of Oregon received 13.
Self also won the AP Coach of the Year Award in 2009. Roy Williams, in 1992, was the only other Kansas coach to win the award.
The Jayhawks spent a total of five weeks at No. 1 this season and won the Big 12 again to move within one of UCLA’s record for consecutive titles.
Voting was done before the NCAA Tournament.
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