Kennedy Named Finalist For Clair Bee National Coach Of The Year

According to a release by the school, Andy Kennedy is one of four finalists for the Clair Bee National Coach of the Year Award. In other news, there is something called the Clair Bee National Coach of the Year Award.

The award itself...

honors a Division I men’s basketball coach who through his actions on and off the court, makes an outstanding contribution to the sport of college basketball. The criteria for this award involves actions that inspire, motivate, coach and educate their teams to achieve their fullest potential and demonstrate outstanding character.

Now my question is this... I don't believe the charges Kennedy faces in Cincinnati are going to stick. That whole situation reeks of inconsistencies. But the fact is that he faces charges. That's hardly making an "outstanding contribution to the sport of college basketball."

On the court, there's no argument. AK did a phenomenal job holding together a young team setback after setback. The fact that we even challenged for an NIT spot is remarkable considering all that happened.

The other three finalists are Missouri’s Mike Anderson, Radford’s Brad Greenberg, and Trent Johnson of LSU. Last season’s winner was Bob McKillop of Davidson.

And how's this for validating the award? The Selection Committee for the award is composed of Dan Beebe (Big 12 Commissioner), Jay Bilas (ESPN talking head), Dave Gavitt (founder of the Big East), Bob Hammel (sportswriter), Bob Knight (media whore), Pat Knight (son of a media whore), Billy Packer (ancient curmudgeon hellbent on sucking all the fun out of college basketball), Dean Smith (former UNC head coach), and Dick Vitale (somebody kill me now). I count Dean Smith and possibly - possibly - Jay Bilas as people's whose opinions I would value from a national perspective.

That said, our basketball program could use a shot of good news, even it is a silly as this award.