Kansas’ Mason, Zags’ Few earn AP nods
GLENDALE, Ariz. — No piece of hardware could take Frank Mason III’s mind off what could have been.
The senior point guard from Kansas received the AP Player of the Year trophy Thursday at the Final Four. He was there without his teammates since the Jayhawks were eliminated in the regional final by Oregon.
I’ve still been thinking about it. It’s been on my mind a lot,” Mason said when asked if he had gotten over that loss. “And I just have to move on to what’s next.”
Mason said he expected to be at the Final Four with his teammates and coaches.
““My goals and our goals as a team was to be here as a family,” he said.
Mason led Kansas to its 13th consecutive Big 12 title. He received 37 votes Thursday from the same 65-member media panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25.
Mason, averaged 20.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 48.7 percent from 3-point range.
Josh Hart of Villanova was second in the voting with 16 votes. Caleb Swanigan of Purdue had nine and Lonzo Ball of UCLA had three.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few, the AP’s Coach of the Year, has his team here as the Zags make their first Final Four appearance. He was a runaway winner with 31 votes. straight games overall.
Assistant coach, transfer join Rice
New Rice men’s basketball coach Scott Pera took the first steps toward filling out his coaching staff with the hire of Mark Linebaugh as an assistant.
Linebaugh had been an assistant for three years at Hobart College.
Also, Dylan Jones joins the Owls as a graduate transfer from Penn.
Odds and ends
TJ Leaf, a 6-10 forward, is leaving UCLA for the NBA draft, joining fellow freshman Lonzo Ball in departing after one stellar season. … An athletic 7-footer from Finland, Arizona freshman forward Lauri Markkanen is leaving early for the NBA and is expected to hire an agent. … Collin Hartman, a 6-7 forward, decided he’s playing one more season at Indiana. … After turning Eastern Washington into a perennial contender in the Big Sky Conference, Jim Hayford was hired as the 17th coach in Seattle’s history.