(Raleigh, North Carolina-AP) — Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt, whose team was picked to finish eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference but made it to the NCAA tournament, was named the league’s coach of the year by The Associated Press today.
Hewitt, in his first season replacing long-time Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, led his team to a 17-and-12 record heading into this week’s postseason and finished tied with Wake Forest for fifth in the ACC at 8-8.
The 37-year-old Hewitt received 41 of a possible 72 votes cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association, beating out North Carolina’s Matt Doherty, who received 26 votes in his first season with the Tar Heels.
Doherty was the first coach in ACC history to either win or share the regular-season crown in his first year.
Virginia’s Pete Gillen was third with five votes.
