(U SPORTS) - Queen's Men's Basketball Head Coach Steph Barrie was given the Stuart W. Aberdeen Award as Fox 40 Coach of the Year at the U SPORTS Men's Basketball All-Canadian Awards Banquet in Halifax, N.S. on Thursday night.
Barrie guided the Gaels to their best regular season record in more than 50 years this season, with Queen's finishing 17-5, tied for the second-best record in the conference.
"It is a reflection of the program," Barrie said at the banquet. "This award, more than any other one, is about the accumulative effort of the team. And it's always gone to coaches that are in programs that are doing well. At the end of the day, this has been a team effort and it goes down from everyone, administration, the staff at Queen's, my assistants, the support staff, and most importantly, it's about the players.
"The players have been the ones that have done the work and the heavy lifting and gotten this program to a place where these kind of accolades are possible. I would be remiss to not be very thankful to the players, both past and present, to put us in a position where we're a program that is at nationals for two years in a row, and in a position to be successful."
In the postseason, Queen's opened their playoff campaign with a 98-85 win over the Western Mustangs at home before edging out the Brock Badgers by an 82-80 score in St. Catharines in a rematch of last year's Wilson Cup final. The Gaels were eliminated by Carleton, 93-86, on March 1 to bring their OUA postseason to a close, however they secured the at-large berth for the 2023 U SPORTS Men's Final 8 Championship Halifax.
"A huge congratulations to Steph Barrie, who has built a successful culture for the Men's Basketball program at Queen's through his commitment to creating an exceptional student-athlete experience," said Queen's Athletics & Recreation Executive Director Linda Melnick. "The dedication and efforts of Coach Barrie have led to ongoing success for the team, culminating in two sequential appearances at the U SPORTS Men's Basketball Final 8 Championship, and the best regular season record for the program in more than 50 years this season. The recognition is a tremendous accomplishment and one that Steph is truly deserving of receiving. Cha Gheill!"
Barrie is the first head coach to earn the honour in Queen's Men's Basketball program history.
The Gaels finished the regular season third in the OUA offensively, averaging 86.8 points per game, behind only Western and Windsor. Queen's was fourth in the conference (sixth nationally) in defence, giving up just 73.7 points per game on the other side of the court.
Prior to this year, Barrie led the Gaels to their most successful season in program history last year, advancing to the OUA Wilson Cup and the U SPORTS Men's Final 8 for the first time ever, where they finished fourth.
Other nominees: Tyrell Vernon (STFX), Mario Joseph (UQAM), Kirby Schepp (Manitoba).
