Donovan and Prather Named 2014 USBWA Award Finalists
Friday, February 28, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Head Coach Billy Donovan has been named a candidate for U.S. Basketball Writers Association's 2014 Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award and senior forward Casey Prather has been named a finalist for the 2014 Oscar Robertson Trophy as announced by the organization on Thursday.
The USBWA has named a National Player of the Year and a National Coach of the Year since the 1958-59 season. The National Player of the Year award is the nation's oldest player of the year award and is the only one named after a former player, Oscar Robertson (University of Cincinnati). The National Coach of the Year award is named after legendary Oklahoma State coach, Henry Iba, who won 655 games and two national championships in 36 seasons.
Prather is averaging 14.8 points per game with a 60.6 field goal percentage and has scored double-figures in 21 of the 26 contests he has played in for Florida this season. The Gators' 15 conference wins are the most in program history, while their current 20-game winning streak is also a program record. Florida clinched the 2014 SEC Championship this week, is the number one team in the nation for the first time since 2007, and has equaled the best regular-season win total in Gator basketball history with their 26-2 record, matching the 2006-07 team's 26 wins (26-5).
The 975-member USBWA will vote on the awards. The Oscar Robertson Trophy recipient will be announced Friday, April 4, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at a press conference in conjunction with the NCAA Men's Final Four. The winner of the Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award will be revealed prior to that, on Mar. 24.
| Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Ballot | |
| John Beilein | Michigan |
| Tony Bennett | Virginia |
| Larry Brown | SMU |
| Jim Crews | Saint Louis |
| Mick Cronin | Cincinnati |
| Billy Donovan | FLORIDA |
| Steve Fisher | San Diego State |
| Gregg Marshall | Wichita State |
| Greg McDermott | Creighton |
| Jay Wright | Villanova |
| Oscar Robertson Trophy Finalists | |
| Kyle Anderson | UCLA |
| Cameron Bairstow | New Mexico |
| Cleanthony Early | Wichita State |
| Melvin Ejim | Iowa State |
| Tyler Ennis | Syracuse |
| C.J. Fair | Syracuse |
| Nick Johnson | Arizona |
| Sean Kilpatrick | Cincinnati |
| Doug McDermott | Creighton |
| Shabazz Napier | Connecticut |
| Jabari Parker | Duke |
| Casey Prather | FLORIDA |
| Julius Randle | Kentucky |
| Russ Smith | Louisville |
| Andrew Wiggins | Kansas |
