Utah Utes basketball: Boylen earns coach of year award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — University of Utah men's head basketball coach Jim Boylen has been named the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 17 Coach of the Year, as voted on by his peers.

In his second year as Utah's head coach, Boylen led the Runnin' Utes to the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship and a share of the regular-season conference title with an overall record of 24-10, 12-4 in the MWC. He also brought Utah back to the NCAA Tournament and into the Top 25 for the first time since 2005.

Boylen has accumulated a 42-25 (.627) overall record in his two years at the Utah helm, including a 19-13 (.593) mark in the MWC. In his first season, he coached the Utes to an 18-15 effort, snapping a two-year run of losing records and reflecting a seven-game improvement in the win column from an 11-19 mark the previous year. Utah also earned an appearance in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational last year.

Boylen becomes the sixth Utah head coach to earn NABC District Coach of the Year honors, joining Jack Gardner (1970), Bill Foster (1974), Jerry Pimm (1976, '77, '81), Rick Majerus (1991, '93, '96, '97, '99) and Ray Giacoletti (2005).