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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > May > 04 > Entry
Coaches’ Poll: Gregory, Brownell
In a vote of the state’s coaches, the Dayton Flyers Brian Gregory finished seventh for the Ohio men’s college basketball coach of the year award.
Wright State’s Brad Brownell was tied for eighth with Central State’s Doug Lewis and Wilmington’s K.C. Hunt. Miami’s Charlie Coles and Cedarville’s Pat Estepp tied for 12th.
The landslide winner in the voting — which is conducted annually by The Columbus Dispatch — was Findlay’s Ron Niekamp, who just led the Oilers to a perfect 36-0 season and the NCAA Division II national title. In 24 seasons, Niekamp has won 550 games at Findlay. That averages out to about 23 victories per season.
Niekamp has strong ties to the Miami Valley area. He’s from St. Henry, where he and his brothers all played basketball. His brother Joe is the current Redskins basketball coach and brother Pat coaches at Fort Recovery.
Also, Capital coach Damon Goodwin, who finished sixth in the voting, has local ties. Originally from St. Marys, he played for the Dayton Flyers in the mid-1980s and is 29th among UD’s all-time career scorers with 1,191 points.
Thirty-one college coaches took part in the vote. First place votes were worth three points, second place two and third place was good for one point. Niekamp got 23 of the first place votes. Gregory, Xavier’s Sean Miller, Cleveland State’s Gary Waters and Akron’s Keith Dambrot each got two first place votes.
The Dispatch’s voting results:
— Ron Niekamp, Findlay, 72 points
— Sean Miller, Xavier, 30
— Gary Waters, Cleveland State, 28
— Keith Dambrot, Akron, 14
— Mike Moran, John Carroll, 13
— Damon Goodwin, Capital, 9
— Brian Gregory, Dayton, 8
— Brad Brownell, Wright State, 2
— K.C. Hunt, Wilmington, 2
— Doug Lewis, Central State, 2
— Louis Orr, Bowling Green, 2
— Charlie Coles, Miami, 1
— Pat Estepp, Cedarville, 1
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Comments
By bob
May 5, 2009 12:00 PM | Link to this
Niekamp did not have to win the national title to earn this vote. How division 1 schools have overlooked this guy is a total mystery.By wavi
May 5, 2009 11:25 AM | Link to this
No votes for Thad Matta?By Picky dum dum
May 5, 2009 10:30 AM | Link to this
Hey Picky, get yourself a State of Ohio map. St. Henry, Ohio is in the western part of the state just north of Greenville.By anthony
May 4, 2009 12:39 PM | Link to this
Mr. Gregory may have gotten 8 points in the coaches pole, but he gets a 0 in keeping his word. Two years ago I told him my mwas on of the “Greadtest FlyersBy Picky
May 4, 2009 10:04 AM | Link to this
Congratulations to Coach Niekamp. St. Henry is not in the Miami Valley. It’s in the Wabash Valley.