Courtesy: Jeff Harwell-Zips Sports Photography In five seasons at Akron, coach Keith Dambrot has compiled a 115-51 (.693) record.

AKRON, Ohio – Fifth-year University of Akron head men's basketball coach Keith Dambrot placed fourth in the Ohio College Coach-of-the-Year Award voting, conducted annually by The Columbus Dispatch. Out of the 47 schools in the state of Ohio (including all divisions), 13 coaches received votes. Thirty-one coaches voted in the poll on a 3-2-1 basis, with three points for a first-place tally.

Findlay's Ron Neikamp ran away with the award on the strength of 72 points (23 first-place votes). Xavier's Sean Miller placed second, with 30 votes (two first place), and Cleveland State's Gary Waters was third (28 votes, 2 first place) followed by Dambrot (14 votes, 2 first place). In his 24th season, Neikamp guided Findlay to a 36-0 record and the NCAA Division II national championship. Coincidentally, Dambrot was the runner-up for the award in 1991 when coach at Ashland (Ohio State's Randy Ayers claimed the honor that year).

Dambrot led Akron to a 23-13 record (10-6 Mid-American Conference), its first-ever MAC Tournament championship and first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1986. The Zips closed out the campaign ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 for the fourth time in as many years – being listed No. 25. UA was picked to finish fourth in the MAC's East Division in a preseason media poll and featured one of the youngest team's in the nation in 2008-09, starting a pair of freshman and having three freshman and three sophomores log considerable minutes as part of its 10-man rotation.

Dambrot was one of three MAC coaches to be recognized in the balloting, with Bowling Green's Louis Orr earning two votes and Miami's Charlie Coles getting one. Orr was the league's coach-of-the-year recipient after guiding the Falcons to the conference's regular-season championship and top seed in the MAC Tournament. In the tournament, BGSU was upset by fifth-seeded Akron in the semifinal round.

After defeating Buffalo 65-53 in the MAC Tournament championship game at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on March 14, 13th-seeded Akron lost 77-64 to 10th-ranked and fourth-seeded Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament first round at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., on March 19. UA held Gonzaga, which advanced to the Sweet 16, in check for over 30 minutes – leading 52-51 with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation before the Bulldogs pulled away.

Dambrot, named 2009 “Best Mid-Major Coach” by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports, closed out his fifth season at the helm of the UA program with a 115-51 (.693) record. His win percentage and win total both rank fourth in program history, and the 115 victories are the most by a MAC team during that span.

Last weekend, Dambrot participated in the Spring Nike Championship Basketball Clinic at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with fellow collegiate coaches Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Jim Calhoun (UConn), Tim Floyd (USC) and Jay Wright (Villanova), Dambrot discussed offensive concepts.

The Akron basketball program has a unique relationship with Nike, and entered a three-year partnership with the company in June 2008 under which the Zips' shoes, game uniforms, warms ups, practice gear and accessories would all be licensed under the Nike and LeBron James "LJ23" Trademarks. Dambrot and James have a long-standing relationship. As head coach of Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School (1998-99 through 2000-01 season), Dambrot won a pair of state championships (2000 and 2001) with James being a key component of the squad (his freshman and sophomore seasons).


2009 Ohio College Basketball Coach-of-the-Year Award:
1. Ron Niekamp, Findlay (23) – 72
2. Sean Miller, Xavier (2) – 30
3. Gary Waters, Cleveland State (2) – 28
4. Keith Dambrot, Akron (2) – 14
5. Mike Moran, John Carroll – 13
6. Damon Goodwin, Capital – 9
7. Brian Gregory, Dayton (2) – 8
8. Brad Brownell, Wright State – 2
9. K.C. Hunt, Wilmington – 2
10. Doug Lewis, Central State – 2
11. Louis Orr, Bowling Green – 2
12. Charlie Coles, Miami (Ohio) – 1
13. Pat Estepp, Cedarville – 1

Results of voting by coaches (first-place votes worth three points, second-place two points and third-place one point; first-place votes in parentheses).