Will Wade
UTC’s Zaccheus Mason takes shot in a game against Samford at McKenzie Arena.
UTC’s Casey Jones finishes an alley-oop against Samford.Will Wade has been much more focused on the process than the results throughout his first season as basketball coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
His process has produced hardware.
UTC senior forward Zaccheus Mason earned the Southern Conference defensive player of the year honor — the first in school history — as voted by the coaches, and was named to the All-SoCon squad along with sophomore teammate Casey Jones.
“I’m happy for them and happy to see their hard work pay off,” said Wade, who also earned his own accolades Tuesday. “Casey is the hardest-working kid in the program. Z has been our best player all season. He’s our MVP. We’d be in real trouble without him.”
Wade was voted coach of the year by the SoCon media association after he directed UTC to an 18-13 season including a 12-4 mark in the league and the No. 2 seed for the tournament after the Mocs were picked in the preseason to finish seventh. The coaches gave the award to Wofford’s Mike Young.