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Below are our year-end award winners based on voting from our staff of contributors who have covered the MAC this season. Congratulations to all of the winners who will be presented with a plaque in recognition of their selection.

MAC Report Online Player of the Year Jerome Tillman

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JEROME TILLMAN - OHIO

Ohio senior forward Jerome Tillman becomes the first repeat winner in the history of MAC Report Online's annual awards. Tillman, who was selected as player of the year following the 2006-2007 season as a sophomore, turned in a strong performance from start to finish in 2008-2009 to easily out distance the other contenders in our staff voting, earning 2008-2009 Player of the Year recognition.

Tillman finished second in the MAC in both scoring (17.9 points per game) and rebounding (8.0 rebounds per game), leading the conference in both categories for most of the season and was consistently one of the most dominating players on the court in the MAC this season.

 The senior forward was Ohio's team-leading scorer in 20 of the Bobcats' 30 games this season and led Ohio in rebounding in all but eight contests. He registered double digit scoring in all but one contest this season and topped the MAC in double-doubles.

Among his season highlights, was a career-high 35 point effort against Miami on Jan. 14 as Tillman led the Bobcats to their first victory at Millett Hall in six seasons.  

"Having the opportunity to coach Jerome has been a pleasure this year because of his intense and hard-working demeanor," noted first-year Ohio head coach John Groce. "He loves to play basketball, and he looks to make himself better every day."

The two-time MAC East player of the week, and first-team All MAC selection, is one of only five players in Ohio history to rank in the career top ten lists for both scoring and rebounding, joining John Devereaux, Brandon Hunter, Gary Trent and Leon Williams in the exclusive club.

Previous MAC Report Online Player of the Year winners:
2007-2008: Al Fisher - Kent State
2006-2007: Jerome Tillman - Ohio
2005-2006: Joe Reitz - Western Michigan

Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon

COACH OF THE YEAR
REGGIE WITHERSPOON - BUFFALO

The Buffalo Bulls, under tenth-year head coach Reggie Witherspoon completed one of the more improbable and impressive turnarounds in college basketball this season, going from the cellar to an East Division co-championship.

Coming off of a 2007-2008 campaign that saw the Bulls finish dead last in the MAC East at 10-20 and 3-13 overall, the Bulls, with primarily the same roster as the season before, defied all of the experts' prognostications and nearly doubled their win total from the season before, finishing the regular season with a 19-10 mark, including going 11-5 in the MAC, which gave Witherspoon's Bulls a share of the MAC overall title, and potentially more importantly, a first round bye into the MAC Tournament.

The 19 wins tied the school mark for victories in a regular season and is the second most in school history as Witherspoon guided the Bulls to their first-ever regular-season MAC title.

“It’s an honor to be named Coach of the Year," said Witherspoon. "Although the credit should go to our players. This year we’ve taken a step we’ve never taken. We’ve never been co-champs, we’ve never gotten a bye. We have gone through some difficult times. Sometimes you take some punches and you hit back and sometimes you take a few steps backwards to take three or four steps forward. I’m proud of our guys for persevering.” 

The Bulls started strong out of the gate, claiming the Rainbow Classic tournament in Hawaii and survived a rough stretch in the latter part of the season but rebounded to claim a share of the MAC East with a hard-fought, comeback 70-67 win over Miami in the season finale.

Witherspoon made several key personnel moves this season but none paid off more than moving Rodney Pierce to the off-guard position where Pierce averaged 14.7 points per game and was one of the strongest players down the stretch in the MAC, earning first-team All-MAC honors. Witherspoon also made ample use of the Bulls' interior strengths as Buffalo topped the MAC in offensive rebounds and was second in cleaning up the defensive glass and far outdistanced any other MAC squad in rebounding margin.

With a veteran nucleus, Witherspoon appears to have the Bulls set to make potentially their deepest run in the MAC tournament since the Bulls battled Ohio in the finals in 2005 and has clearly earned recognition as MAC Report Online's 2008-2009 Coach of the Year.

Previous MAC Report Online Coach of the Year winners:
2007-2008: Jim Christian - Kent State
2006-2007: Stan Joplin - Toledo
2005-2006: Keith Dambrot - Akron

Ball State freshman Jarrod Jones

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
JARROD JONES - BALL STATE

While several players entered the MAC this season with more hype, none had the impact of freshman Jarrod Jones of Ball State. That is not to say that there were not some stellar first-year performers, but Jones stood out as the strongest of the first-year contributors, earning the nod as MAC Report Online's Newcomer of the Year.

Jones, who was earlier named to the MAC's All-Freshman squad, was also the only freshman to earn official All-MAC honorable mention as well. Jones led the MAC West co-champion Cardinals in scoring 12 times this season with the Cardinals going 9-3 in games in which Jones was Ball State's top scorer. Jones also registered three double-doubles this season and hit double digits in scoring an impressive 17 times during the regular season.

The freshman out of Michigan City, Ind., ranks fifth in school history in freshman scoring and third among freshman all-time in rebounding.

Ball State head coach Billy Taylor discussed Jones' ability on both ends of the court. “Offensively, Jarrod has been able to score in a variety of ways,” Taylor said. “While he has seen double teams and a variety of defenses, he has been able to consistently produce results for us. On the defensive end of the floor, he has been a presence for us in the paint and has proven to be a very good rebounder. We are all excited about his future with our program.”

Jones topped Ball State this season by averaging 11 points and his 7.4 rebounds per game not only topped the Cardinals but was fifth in the MAC this season.

Previous MAC Report Online Newcomer of the Year winners:
2007-2008: Al Fisher - Kent State
2006-2007: David Kool - Western Michigan*
2005-2006: Carlos Medlock - Eastern Michigan*
(* Award was changed from Freshman of the Year to Newcomer of the Year in 2008.)

Akron super sub Brett McKnight

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
BRETT McKNIGHT - AKRON

It's not often that the first player off the bench is also the team's leading scorer but that is exactly what Akron sophomore forward Brett McKnight has been able to accomplish this season. Despite starting only twice this season, and only once in MAC play, McKnight has been the spark that ignited the Zips on several occasions this season.

"He's done a really good job of doing anything that we have asked of him," noted Akron head coach Keith Dambrot. "He's our best scorer and is a threat from both the inside and outside but most importantly he is a really good person and we are fortunate to have him. He also understands that it's who finishes that is more important than who starts. I'm really happy for him because he deserves this honor."

While the lines are frequently not as clear as they used to be in identifying a team's starting five from its bench performers, McKnight has clearly embraced his role and provides productivity and defense off the bench that many starters would have a hard time matching, thus earning our Sixth Man of the Year award for the 2008-2009 season.

Previous MAC Report Online Sixth Man of the Year winners:
2007-2008: Calvin Betts - Buffalo
2006-2007: Cedrick Middleton - Akron
2005-2006: Kevin Warzynski - Kent State

KSU defensive stalwart Jordan Mincy

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JORDAN MINCY - KENT STATE

Sometimes a player's contribution cannot be measured simply in statistics and such is the case with 2008-2009 MAC Report Online Defensive Player of the Year, Kent State senior guard Jordan Mincy.

Mincy is consistently mentioned by his peers as the one player they hate to match up against. Mincy is a tenacious defender who has the ability to pressure the opposition into bad-shots, bad decisions and forced turnovers and finished fifth in the MAC this season , averaging 1.6 steals per game.

"Jordan has been great defensively throughout his career," said first-year Kent State head coach Geno Ford. "He is a guy that does not get caught up in statistics, he just comes to the gym ready to compete hard and get after it every night. As a coach you could not ask for a player with a better attitude and approach to the game.”

Mincy has also been something of an iron man throughout his career. With his next game in MAC play, he will surpass Bryan Bedford for most games played in MAC history.

That's not to say he can't score as this season he has also twice led the Flashes as game -high scorer, pouring in 27 points against Ohio and 19 points against Bowling Green. But scoring is just icing on the cake for Mincy's game.

Few players relish their role as a stopper like Mincy and his defensive tenacity has been on display all season, easily earning him our nod for Defensive Player of the Year.

Previous MAC Report Online Defensive Player of the Year winners:
2007-2008: Haminn Quaintance - Kent State
2006-2007: Kashif Payne- Toledo
2005-2006: Nathan Peavy - Miami