The honors and awards keep on coming for the historic 2015-2016 Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Skyhawks head coach Bob Pietrack the South Central Region Coach of the Year on Monday.
It was a big day for the first-year head coach as he was also named as one of six finalists for the 2016 Red Auerbach College Coach of the Year Award.
In addition to Pietrack’s honors, junior FLC guard Joshua Blaylock added to his loaded résumé with NABC All-South Central First Team honors.
“Anytime a player or a coach wins an individual award, there are so many people behind them that make it possible,” Pietrack said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “These are the Hawk awards. They’re for our whole program.”
The Red Auerbach Award is given to the top Jewish coach in the nation. The winners will be chosen by the Jewish Coaches Association and honored at the Final Four in Houston. Other candidates include University of Hawaii head coach Eran Ganot and University of Akron head coach Keith Dambrot.
“I’ve got Jewish roots on my father’s side and I’m so proud to be a part of this special group,” he said. “It’s very humbling to me, and it’s meaningful. None of it would be possible without the hard work the guys and the people around the program put in.”
The awards cap off an incredible first season in charge for Pietrack. He’s the first FLC men’s coach to earn the NABC Regional Coach of the Year Award. He led the program to its most wins (28) in school history before losing in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament South Central Regional to Angelo State. The Skyhawks were a perfect 17-0 at home and finished the season with the highest ranking ever at No. 4 in the nation.
Blaylock was a key ingredient to the Skyhawks’ winning recipe.
The junior guard averaged 18.1 points a game to lead the Skyhawks’ potent attack. He started all 32 games and played 132 minutes more than any of his teammates. He also led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 50.3 percent.
Blaylock will add his new NABC All-Region honors to the All-RMAC First Team and RMAC Shootout MVP awards he’s already racked up this season.
“There isn’t another young man in this region that deserves it as much as Josh Blaylock,” Pietrack said. “His commitment is on another level and he’s such a good teammate. The other guys were happier for Josh than Josh was for himself and that speaks volumes about what our program has become.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
