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Princeton University Athletics
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
Henderson Named Phelan National Coach of the Year Award Finalist
March 27, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Following a season that saw the Princeton men's basketball team win 19 straight games to finish 14-0 in the Ivy League, win the inaugural Ivy League Tournament and earn the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Princeton coach Mitch Henderson has been named one of 20 finalists for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award.
Henderson moved from sixth to third place on Princeton's all-time coaching wins list during the season, and his 119 wins in six seasons have him behind only Franklin C. Cappon (250), for whom Princeton's head coaching position is named, and Naismith Hall of Famer Pete Carril (514), for whom Henderson played during Carril's final two seasons leading the program.
The honor follows Henderson being named both the Ivy League Coach of the Year and NABC District 13 Coach of the Year. Princeton had three players earn first-team All-Ivy League honors, the first time the program has achieved that since 1968, and Tigers took both the Ivy League Player of the Year (Spencer Weisz) and Defensive Player of the Year (Myles Stephens) awards.
Princeton, which started four seniors when the season began, lost two of those to injury by mid-December and overcame a 4-6 start to run off the second-longest winning streak in program history and take No. 14-ranked and fifth-seeded Notre Dame to the final possession in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Henderson joins UCLA's Steve Alford, Oregon's Dana Altman, Cal State Bakersfield's Rod Barnes, Vermont's John Becker, Kentucky's John Calipari, Northwestern's Chris Collins, Middle Tennessee's Kermit Davis, UCF's Johnny Dawkins, TCU's Jamie Dixon, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Butler's Chris Holtmann, former UNC Wilmington coach Kevin Keatts, South Carolina's Frank Martin, Purdue's Matt Painter, Georgia Tech's Josh Pastner, Minnesota's Richard Pitino, Kansas' Bill Self, Florida's Mike White and North Carolina's Roy Williams as finalists.
The award is named for 49-year Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan, who won 830 games before retiring in 2003. The winner will be announced during the upcoming Final Four weekend in Arizona.
Henderson moved from sixth to third place on Princeton's all-time coaching wins list during the season, and his 119 wins in six seasons have him behind only Franklin C. Cappon (250), for whom Princeton's head coaching position is named, and Naismith Hall of Famer Pete Carril (514), for whom Henderson played during Carril's final two seasons leading the program.
The honor follows Henderson being named both the Ivy League Coach of the Year and NABC District 13 Coach of the Year. Princeton had three players earn first-team All-Ivy League honors, the first time the program has achieved that since 1968, and Tigers took both the Ivy League Player of the Year (Spencer Weisz) and Defensive Player of the Year (Myles Stephens) awards.
Princeton, which started four seniors when the season began, lost two of those to injury by mid-December and overcame a 4-6 start to run off the second-longest winning streak in program history and take No. 14-ranked and fifth-seeded Notre Dame to the final possession in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Henderson joins UCLA's Steve Alford, Oregon's Dana Altman, Cal State Bakersfield's Rod Barnes, Vermont's John Becker, Kentucky's John Calipari, Northwestern's Chris Collins, Middle Tennessee's Kermit Davis, UCF's Johnny Dawkins, TCU's Jamie Dixon, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Butler's Chris Holtmann, former UNC Wilmington coach Kevin Keatts, South Carolina's Frank Martin, Purdue's Matt Painter, Georgia Tech's Josh Pastner, Minnesota's Richard Pitino, Kansas' Bill Self, Florida's Mike White and North Carolina's Roy Williams as finalists.
The award is named for 49-year Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan, who won 830 games before retiring in 2003. The winner will be announced during the upcoming Final Four weekend in Arizona.
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