Schaefer Named Finalist for National Coach of the Year

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – With March Madness set to begin in Starkville this weekend, Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer has been named one of four finalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year Award.

Schaefer is joined in the final group by Karen Aston of Texas, Geno Auriemma of Connecticut and Scott Rueck of Oregon State. The four finalists were selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s national voting academy which consists of top national journalists, current and former head coaches, former Naismith Award winners and conference commissioners.

This year a fan vote will comprise five percent of the total tally. Fans can vote once daily from March 20-31 at www.naismithtrophy.com/vote. Voting ends at 10:59 p.m. CT on March 31.

It is Schaefer’s first selection as a finalist after he was named a semifinalist both this season and in 2014-15.

Schaefer has guided his 2016-17 Bulldogs to the best season in program history, notching school records for both overall (29) and SEC (13) victories.

He led MSU to a fourth-straight 20-win season, matching the total number of 20-win campaigns in program history prior to his arrival in Starkville.

This year’s squad set the season wins record for the third-straight year, and it accomplished the feat playing 22 of its 33 games away from home. The Bulldogs claimed a program-best 12 road victories and claimed three regular-season tournament titles: the Maine Tipoff Tournament, Rainbow Wahine Showdown and Women of Troy Classic.

MSU started the season with a program-best 20-straight wins. It ended the record run as one of the final two undefeated teams in NCAA Division I women’s basketball and one of the final three unbeaten men’s and women’s teams.

Schaefer’s squad went on to open SEC play with six-straight victories before capping the league slate with a 13-3 record and school-record second-place finish.

State also earned the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament, the highest ever for the program, and knocked off LSU and Texas A&M to earn a spot in the championship game for the second year in a row.

The best season in school history resulted in Mississippi State earning the No. 2 seed in the Oklahoma City region for this year’s NCAA Tournament, the highest seed in program annals.

Mississippi State’s tremendous 2016-17 campaign has also seen the Bulldogs earn record rankings in the Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls. MSU has been ranked in the Top 10 the entire season, rising to a program-best No. 3 in the AP and No. 2 in the USA Today coaches poll.

The on-court success has also translated to the turnstiles, where the Bulldogs rank seventh nationally this season in average attendance with 6,793 fans per game.

MSU drew a program second-most 10,500 for the regular-season finale. Four of the Top 5 crowds in school history have come this season, and the Top 10 and 17 of the Top 20 have come during Schaefer’s time in Starkville.

Schaefer’s Bulldogs host Troy in the Friday’s NCAA Tournament opening round. Tip at Humphrey Coliseum is set for 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

Werner Ladder Naismith Coach Of The Year Finalists

Karen Aston, Texas

Geno Auriemma, Connecticut

Scott Rueck, Oregon State

Vic Schaefer, Mississippi State