ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall is growing accustomed to being center stage at the Final Four. He just wishes his team was with him this time around.
After leading the Shockers to the national semifinals a year ago, Marshall deftly guided them through a perfect regular season, earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While they were done in by Kentucky in the third round, by then the votes had already been tabulated.
Marshall was the runaway winner of the AP coach of the year award.
He accepted his hardware during a news conference Thursday at AT&T Stadium, where the Wildcats will play Wisconsin and UConn will meet Florida in the national semifinals Saturday night.
"I'm truly honored," Marshall said. "It's amazing what our young guys and our program were able to accomplish this year, with the tremendous win streak and the run they took us all on. I've been coaching for a long time, but when you have a group like this, they make it really special."
Speaking of special, Creighton star Doug McDermott was a near-unanimous pick as the AP player of the year after a senior season that left him the fifth-leading scorer in Division I history.
McDermott received all but one vote from the 65-member panel that votes for the Top 25. Russ Smith of Louisville received the only dissenting vote.
"This is a huge honor," said McDermott, who was joined at the news conference by his father, Creighton coach Greg McDermott, along with his mother and sister.
"It's been a heck of a ride," McDermott said. "It has been a great four years."
The award ceremony was also a reunion for Marshall and McDermott, who became familiar with each other when Wichita State and Creighton tussled for Missouri Valley supremacy.
Marshall received 44 votes for coach of the year. Tony Bennett of Virginia got 13, followed by Florida's Billy Donovan with six and Michigan's John Beilein and SMU's Larry Brown with one each.