JCU’s Moran is OAC Coach of the Year

It doesn’t get much better than this for opening acts.

In his first year replacing his father Mike Moran as John Carroll’s men’s basketball coach, Pete Moran was named Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball Coach of the Year on Feb. 23.

Moran’s Blue Streaks are 22-5, and will host Ohio Northern Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the OAC tournament final.

A win would earn JCU an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Blue Streaks won the OAC regular-season title

with a 14-4 mark, and are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

Moran’s team is averaging just a hair under 100 points per game at 99.4.

Against Baldwin Wallace Feb. 22 in an OAC semifinal, JCU stormed to a 25-2 lead seven minutes into the game, and never looked back in a 93-72 victory.

The Blue Streaks also had three players named to the All-OAC team.

Senior guard/forward Matt Csuhran — the team’s leading scorer at 17.3 points — was a first-team pick.

Senior guard Tony Vuyancih, a Euclid native averaging 13.4 points, was a second-team pick.

Sophomore point guard Jimmy Berger (112 assists) was an honorable mention selection.

Also of note, Muskingum’s Jarrell Marsh, 20, was named as a first-team selection.

He was killed in a car crash Dec. 21, 2017 within minutes of leaving campus for Christmas break.

TIM PHILLIS — THE NEWS-HERALD John Carroll’s Pete Moran was named the Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball coach of the year in his first season as head coach of the Blue Streaks.