“After compiling his fifth straight 20 win season at the helm for the University of Akron men’s basketball team, head coach Keith Dambrot has yet to be honored for what he has done. In addition, Dambrot has made it to four straight MAC championship games and has a MAC tournament championship on his resume.”
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After compiling his fifth straight 20 win season at the helm for the University of Akron men’s basketball team, head coach Keith Dambrot has yet to be honored for what he has done.

In addition, Dambrot has made it to four straight MAC championship games and has a MAC tournament championship on his resume.

With all of this dominance in the MAC, why has Dambrot not won some kind of award for his coaching?

I understand that this year it came down to who won the Akron – Kent State game. I am not taking anything away from Kent State coach Geno Ford, but he had six seniors on that team.

Akron has had one of the youngest teams in the league for the past two years and they have still made it to the MAC tournament championship game.

Prior to the 2009-2010 season, Dambrot was 11th on the list for top MAC coaches by percentages (.585), falling two places behind Miami, Ohio head coach Charlie Coles who is the coach with the most all time wins in MAC history.

There is only one more active coach with a better percentage than Dambrot and Coles: Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins (.627), who is 5th on the list.

Regardless, Coles and Hawkins have not made it to four straight MAC championship games.

Maybe the problem lies in when the award is announced.

The award is announced prior to the MAC tournament and everyone knows that the tournament is when a team’s true colors show.

I’m not saying that Dambrot would have won if the award was announced after the tournament because the selection committee could have chosen John Groce from Ohio based on their run, knocking off the one and three seeds, along with their rival Miami.

I just think that the coach of the year selection comes down to when the award is announced. If you select before the tournament, Ford wins, if you select the day of the championship game, Dambrot wins and if you select after the tournament, Groce wins.

Now if MAC coach of the year doesn’t happen, Dambrot has other chances to win an awrad.

Dambrot is now a finalist for the Red Auerbach Award which is given to the top Jewish coach and is chosen by the Jewish Coaches Association.

Unofortunately, it is not very likely that Dambrot will win the award based on the fact that Bruce Pearl of Tennessee is in the running.

Pearl had an outstanding season despite dismissing one of his best players, Tyler Smith, for misdemeanor gun charges.

It is an honor for Dambrot to be considered for this award, but it will be another award that he will not win.

Dambrot has said before that he loves Akron and he isn’t going to go anywhere. I think he should be awarded for that because once a coach gets success, they generally move up.

I just keep thinking of all the things that Dambrot has done for the MAC as well.

He brought the first top 100 recruit ever into the MAC. No single coach has ever done that before.

Looking on to next year, he is bringing another solid class in.

So let me break down what all of this says about Dambrot. He is a good coach, he is a good recruiter, he wins games and most importantly he is a good person.

I personally believe that Dambrot should eventually win MAC coach of the year For Dambrot’s sake, I hope that the award comes sooner rather than later.

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