KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today its top Division I award winners for the 2020-21 season as determined by a nationwide vote of NABC-member head coaches in the division.
Gonzaga University head coach Mark Few heads the list of recipients as the NABC Coach of the Year presented by Wilson after guiding the Zags to an unbeaten season heading into the 2021 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis. Iowa’s Luka Garza earned recognition with two major awards, NABC Division I Player of the Year powered by ShotTracker and the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year, which he also received a year ago.
Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham was selected as the NABC Freshman of the Year presented by adidas and Baylor’s Davion Mitchell is the NABC Defensive Player of the Year.
Unbeaten in 30 games this season, Few leads the Bulldogs into their second Final Four after reaching the national championship game in 2017. He is the winningest active coach by percentage (.835) in NCAA Division I and his teams have four Elite Eight appearances and 10 Sweet 16 appearances in his 22 years as the Zags’ head coach.
The all-time leading scorer at Iowa, Garza earned NABC Player of the Year honors after two seasons as a first team consensus All-America selection. The 6-11 senior is the first player to earn the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year award twice since its inception in 2000. This season, the Big Ten Player of the Year scored 747 points (24.1 per game) and averaged 8.5 rebounds per game with 50 blocked shots in 31 games.
Mitchell, a 6-2 junior guard for Baylor, was a shutdown defender for the Bears while playing a team-leading 920 minutes in 28 games. Heading into the Final Four, the NABC Defensive Player of the Year is also Baylor’s third-leading scorer and helped BU hold opponents to 65.4 points per game, an average of 17 points below the Bears’ 83 points per game.
The NABC Freshman of the Year, Cunningham was a first team NABC All-American. The 6-8 guard had a sensational season for the Cowboys, leading his team to a 21-9 record while averaging 21 points and 6.2 rebounds per game with 94 assists and 43 steals.
This group of four will receive their awards on Friday, April 2, during the AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show. The show is the finale of the 2021 NABC Convention, being conducted this year on a virtual platform due to the pandemic. The NABC holds its convention each year in conjunction with the NCAA Men’s Final Four.
The show will be broadcast on Stadium (https://watchstadium.com) beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
