Matt Painter Named NBC Sports Co-Coach of the Year

It’s postseason awards time and we’re starting to see some of the national awards come out. NBCSports.com was the first to come through as it named Matt Painter its Co-Coach of the Year with Chris Beard of Texas Tech:

Let’s start with Beard. He took a Texas Tech team that lost six of their top eight players from last year’s team and was picked seventh in the Big 12 to a share of the Big 12 title. He helped turned Jarrett Culver into a top ten pick and a roster of guys that weren’t really chased by the bluebloods into conference champs. He is responsible, along with Kansas State’s Bruce Weber, for ending the 14 year Kansas run at the top of the conference.

On paper, Painter had a little more coming back this season. We all knew how good Carsen Edwards was going to be, but he was surrounded by a lot of whatever. No one knew what to expect of a team that lost four senior starters, especially playing in a league as tough as the Big Ten with two national title contenders at the top. But Painter found a way to get the job done, winning a share of the regular season title along with Michigan State.

In the same article they named Carsen Edwards as a Third Team All-American:

CARSEN EDWARDS, Purdue (23.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.0 apg)

Edwards’ efficiency was down this season, but the attention that he drew made it easier for his teammates to do what they did. Let’s not overthink this: Edwards put up those numbers on the Big Ten regular season champ.

It really says something that Carsen was one of the best players in the country and, in the eyes of many, he had a bit of a down year. It shows how good he can be and what he can do if he catches fire here in March.