Denzel Valentine of Michigan State is The Associated Press Player of the Year, edging out Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield by three votes.
Valentine is the first Spartans player to win the award. He accepted the trophy Thursday in Houston.
Valentine received 34 of 65 votes from the national media panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25. Hield was the only other player to receive votes. Hield and Valentine were the only unanimous selections to the AP All-America team.
Valentine, a 6-foot-5 senior, led Michigan State (29-6) to a second-place finish in the Big Ten regular season and was the conference player of the year. He averaged 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists.
The Spartans were ranked No. 1 for four weeks and finished second in the final AP Top 25. They lost to Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bill Self, who led Kansas to the No. 1 ranking in the final weekly poll and its 12th straight Big 12 title, is The Associated Press Coach of the Year.
The Jayhawks (33-5) were the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to Villanova in the regional final.
Self received 21 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly poll. Chris Mack of Xavier was second with 15 votes and Dana Altman of Oregon received 13.
Self also won the AP Coach of the Year Award in 2009. Roy Williams, in 1992, was the only other Kansas coach to win the award.
Voting was done before the tournament.
Associated Press
