Vic Schaefer Named USBWA National Coach of the Year

March 30, 2018

(Photo Courtesy: Kelly Price, MSU Athletics)

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State’s return to the Final Four caught the attention of the national media as Vic Schaefer was named National Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association on Friday.

Schaefer guided this season’s Bulldog squad to the program’s first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, the first for any women’s program at MSU, and a school wins record for the fourth-straight year with a 36-1 mark. State’s 36 wins are tied for most in the nation this season.

He also guided the Bulldogs to a second-straight Final Four after winning the Kansas City Region title. His team advanced to Columbus, Ohio, after garnering the first No. 1 seed in program history.

The Bulldogs began the year winning 32-straight games, the second-longest win streak in SEC history. State completed the regular season 30-0, the first SEC team to do so in 20 years.

MSU also posted the first undefeated season at Humphrey Coliseum in men’s or women’s basketball history, tallying an 18-0 mark in front of a record attendance total. State eclipsed 100,000 at the Hump for the first time, drawing 133,906.

That total included a Humphrey Coliseum-record 10,794 for State’s Feb. 5 win against South Carolina. MSU claimed 11 of the Top 20 single-game attendance marks this season.

While his 2017-18 squad has once again been stellar defensively, ranking 15th nationally in scoring defense at 56.1 ppg, it has also had the best offensive season by a Bulldog team, scoring a school-record 3,033 points and ranking 10^th in the country with an 82.0 scoring average.

MSU has also posted the second-best field goal percentage in school history (47.2 percent), and it has knocked down 270 3-pointers, the most by an MSU team and the third-highest tally in SEC history. This year’s unit is also on track to once again set the season free-throw percentage record, hitting 74.9 percent from the stripe.

Schaefer was also named Division I Coach of the Year by the WBCA and College Sports Madness.