Utah State basketball: Stew Morrill honored as National Coach of the Year

HOUSTON — Utah State men's basketball coach Stew Morrill was named the 2011 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year on Friday.

Named after legendary Mount St. Mary's head coach Jim Phelan, who won over 800 games and coached in more contests than any in college basketball history, the award is presented annually to the top coach in America by CollegeInsider.com. The honor is voted upon by a distinguished group of coaches, media members and athletic administrators.

Other finalists for this year's award included Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Rick Byrd (Belmont), Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh), Billy Donavan (Florida), Steve Fisher (San Diego State), Greg Kampe (Oakland), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Steve Lavin (St. John's), Thad Matta (Ohio State), Sean Miller (Arizona), Matt Painter (Purdue), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Dave Rose (BYU), Bill Self (Kansas) and Roy Williams (North Carolina).

Previous Jim Phelan Award winners include Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh, 2010), John Calipari (Memphis, 2009), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin, 2008), Tony Bennett (Washington State, 2007), Ben Howland (UCLA, 2006), Tubby Smith (Kentucky, 2005) Phil Martelli (St. Joseph's, 2004) and Mark Slonaker (Mercer, 2003).