CLEVELAND – Ohio point guard D.J. Cooper was named the Mid-American Conference's player of the year and Akron's Keith Dambrot is the league's top coach.
Cooper beat out Zips center Zeke Marshall for the award in voting by a media panel. Cooper averaged 14.2 points and 7.2 assists for the Bobcats. He's the first Ohio player to win the award since Gary Trent, a three-time player of the year.
Cooper is the MAC's career leader in assists and he's the only Division I player in history to have at least 2,000 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 300 career steals.
Dambrot has guided the Zips to a 24-6 record and the top seed in this week's conference tournament. Akron went 13-0 in league play before losing to Buffalo. The defeat snapped a 19-game winning streak.
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