April 2, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - National awards continued to pour in for Villanova this weekend, as head coach Jay Wright was named the CBS Coach of the Year during a halftime ceremony at the Final Four. Meanwhile, in Kansas City, senior guard Randy Foye was named a first team member of the Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award.
In Wright's five seasons leading the Wildcats, he has led Villanova to more than 100 victories and two straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Wildcats set a school record with 28 victories and advanced to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1988. Villanova went 14-2 in Big East Conference play and shared the regular season title with Connecticut. The Wildcats set a program record with an .889 winning percentage and 24 wins during the regular seasons, and were ranked in the top 10 of the two major national polls for the entire season.
One of the focal points of the season on the court was Foye, who averaged a team-best 20.5 points per game and ranked second on the squad with 5.7 rebounds per contest. Foye was named the Big East Player of the Year and a first team All-American. He also was second on the team with 100 assists, 46 steals and 89 three-pointers made, all this despite often being matched up against an opposing team's power forward due to the Wildcats' four-guard lineup.
The other first team selections for the Bayer Senior CLASS Award were J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams of Duke, Kevin Pittsnogle of West Virginia and Dee Brown of Illinois. Redick was the senior Player of the Year.
The Senior CLASS Award - an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School - was launched during the 2001-02 season in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving college early to turn professional.
Villanova advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by Florida in the regional final of the Minneapolis bracket. The Gators defeated George Mason in the Final Four and will play against UCLA in the national championship game on Monday night.
