Gophers' Richard Pitino named Big Ten Coach of the Year

Published Mar. 6, 2017 6:14 p.m. ET

For just the second time in the program's history, the coach of the University of Minnesota men's basketball team is the Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Richard Pitino was voted the winner by Big Ten coaches and media members Monday after orchestrating the most dramatic year-to-year turnaround in Gophers history.

Minnesota finished the regular season 23-8 just a year after going 8-23, and is on the cusp of its first NCAA tournament berth since 2013.

But Pitino wasn't the only member of the Gophers to earn conference honors Monday.

Junior center Reggie Lynch was named the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year, while rookie Amir Coffey was selected for the all-freshman team.

Junior guard Nate Mason earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and sophomore Jordan Murphy was named to the third team.