Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim Named AP Coach Of The Year

For the coach with the sixth all-time most wins in college basketball history (and the second among active coaches behind a certain Am-Ex spokesman who hails from Durham), Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim has gotten little respect when it comes to national awards. Until now. And according to SB Nation’s Syracuse blog, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, it’s about time:

Because the Coach of the Year award is oftentimes given to the coach who outperformed expectations the most, Boeheim has in many ways been a victim of his own success. His record 32 20-win seasons the past 34 years means that the Orange are rarely expected to do poorly, and that in turn makes it difficult for his teams to surprise on the upside. The result has been that more often than not, Syracuse (and Boeheim) gets overlooked comes awards time.

What does guiding a team that was unranked in the preseason to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament get you? If you’re Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, it gets you the 2010 AP Coach of the Year award. CBS Sports reports that Boeheim took home the award, collecting 38 of the 65 votes. Kansas State head coach Frank Martin finished second with eight votes.

The award is the first time Boeheim, who ranks sixth all-time with 829 wins, has been recognized by the AP as the coach of the year.