From the official release:
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Oregon State head men's basketball coach Craig Robinson has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association District IX Coach of the Year, the organization announced on Tuesday.
In his first season at Oregon State, Robinson has led the Beavers to the fifth-best single season turnaround in Pac-10 history, guiding the squad to seven league wins after going winless in Pac-10 play a year ago.
Season highlights for the Beavers include sweeping the Bay Area schools for the first time since the 1989-90 season as well as winning seven conference games for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign (8).
Under Robinson's leadership, one area in which the Beavers have dramatically improved is from the field, where Oregon State is currently shooting 46.3 percent for the year after shooting 37.4 percent a year ago. The 46.3 percent effort from the floor is currently the highest the Beavers have shot from the field since the 1989-90 season.
The Beavers, predicted to finish last in the Pac-10 Conference heading into the year, enter the Pac-10 Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed after finishing league play with a 7-11 mark. Oregon State will open play at the Pac-10 Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, when they face No. 9-seeded Stanford at 6:04 p.m.
The voting is based on ballots from the USBWA's national membership. There are nine regions from coast to coast and a player and coach of the year are selected in each. District IX consists of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Oregon and Washington.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)