Special to the Record-Courier

After leading the Golden Flashes to their fourth regular-season league title in school history, Kent State head coach Geno Ford was named the 2010 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in an official announcement made by the league office on Monday.

In just his second season at the helm of the Kent State men’s basketball team, Ford led the Golden Flashes (23-8, 13-3 MAC) to a Mid-American Conference regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming FirstEnergy MAC Tournament.

“This is an award that obviously a lot of people have had a hand in,” said Ford. “Rob Senderoff has done a tremendous job with our offense, Armon Gates and Bobby Steinburg were instrumental with our defense and Jaden Uken was outstanding with our daily preparation for practice and games. You have to credit our accomplishments this season to the players who performed at a high level and shared that one vision required for a team to be great.”

The Golden Flashes have won 13 of the last 14 games and the team’s performance in the second half has been a testament to the adjustments made by Ford and his staff.

“We have great support from the University and Athletic Administration here at Kent State,” stated Ford. “Our success is made possible due to the commitment we receive from Director of Athletics Laing Kennedy and President Lester Lefton.”

Monday’s announcement marks the seventh time in league history that a Kent State head coach has been selected for the honor (Jim McDonald, 1990; Gary Waters, 1999 and 2000; Stan Heath, 2002; Jim Christian 2006 and 2008).

One of Ford’s calling cards for this season’s success came during inspirational halftime speeches.

The speeches, along with adjustments made by him and his staff, helped KSU leapfrog opponents all season in the game’s final 20 minutes.

During league play Kent State shot 51 percent and averaged 40 points in the second half, an increase of more than 10 percent from the field and eight points per half.

The MAC also announced Western Michigan’s David Kool as the season’s Player of the Year.

Kool, received 13 votes to edge out Kent State senior guard Chris Singletary, who had six votes and sophomore forward Justin Greene, who received two votes.

Kool led the MAC with 21.0 points per game in all games and 21.9 points per game in conference play.

Kool scored 22 or more points in 9-of-16 conference contests, including four games of 30 points or more. Kool is the career leader in points at Western Michigan with 2,037 (surpassing Manny Newsome’s record of 1,787 set in 1964), which is 10th in Mid-American Conference history. Kool is only the 12th 2,000-point scorer in league annals. A four-time MAC West Player of the Week and four-time MAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Week this season, Kool ranks first in the MAC and 11th nationally in free throw shooting (.898) and fifth in the MAC in steals (1.77 spg).

“It is a very special feeling to be MAC Player of the Year,” said Kool. “It’s a great honor and I couldn’t do without the help of my teammates and the coaches. This is more than an individual award, it’s a credit to everyone in our program. It’s a complete honor and I’m very humbled.”

Kool becomes the fourth player in Western Michigan history to be named MAC Player of the Year. WMU’s Jeff Tyson won the award in 1976, while Booker James garnered POY recognition in 1987. Most recently, Mike Williams won the award in 2004.