by BYU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
After helping BYU become one of the nation's most improved teams this season, Cougar freshman Trent Plaisted was named Freshman All-American and BYU coach Dave Rose received honorable mention for National Coach of the Year honors.
Plaisted was named to the Scout.com Freshman All-America Second Team after leading BYU in scoring and rebounding in 2005-06. He averaged 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game over the season while being selected National Freshman of the Week three times. He was also named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year and was one of only three freshmen to receive U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District recognition, being named to the USBWA District VIII Team.
Plaisted had the top rebounding game ever by a BYU freshman scoring record by a center, breaking the mark of former Utah center Andrew Bogut, who became the 2005 National Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Plaisted had the top rebounding game ever by a BYU freshman and also set the MWC freshman record for rebounds in a league game when he grabbed 18 boards at TCU.
Coach Rose was named the USBWA District VIII Coach of the Year and the MWC Coach of the Year in his first season at the Cougar helm. Taking a team predicted to finish last in the MWC, Rose directed the Cougars to a second-place tie at 12-4, one game behind league champion San Diego State.
With an overall 20-9 record, Rose helped BYU become the nation's second-most improved program this year with an 11.5-game improvement over last year's 9-21 team. It was also the largest improvement ever by a first-year BYU coach, passing Roger Reid's 6.5-game improvement. Rose led BYU to 11 more victories than last year's team to also best the eight additional wins achieved by Rose's predecessor Steve Cleveland in his first season in 1997-98. Rose served as the lead assistant during Cleveland's eight-year tenure.
North Carolina's Roy Williams was named the Scout.com Coach of the Year. UCLA's Ben Howland, Ohio State's Thad Matta, Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, Kansas' Bill Self, Illinois' Bruce Weber and Villinova's Jay Wright were considered runners-up. Joining Rose in receiving honorable mentions were John Brady (LSU), John Calipari (Memphis), Tom Crean (Marquette), Mark Fox (Nevada), Karl Hobbs (George Washingon), Darrin horn (Western Kentucky), Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois), Lorenzo Romar (Washington) and Bob Thomason (Pacific).