On Wednesday night, Kansas University’s Mike Fine was named men’s bowling coach of the year by the Intercollegiate Bowling Assn.

On Thursday night, Fine was wondering if they had presented the award to the wrong coach. Now in his 16th season as KU pin coach, Fine was disappointed after his men’s team stumbled in the second round of the IBA national championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

In the morning, the Jayhawks rolled a 2995 and were in eighth place. But they slumped to a 2745 on Thursday evening and fell to 14th place.

“I think we bowled as bad as we possibly could,” Fine said. “We had our worst day of the year. I sure hope they don’t take the award away from me.”

Fine earned the honor in the first year he was nominated.

“Yes, it was a surprise,” said Fine, a Lawrence native. “There were some awfully good people nominated. Three of the five have won multiple championships and I’ve won none, so it was special.”

Also, four KU bowlers were accorded academic All-America honors  achieved by posting a grade point of 3.5 or higher. Two of the bowlers who made the trip to Buffalo  Mike Keeler and Ryan Ludwig  were honored, as was B-teamer Brad Wass and Carly Ingham, a member of the women’s team that didn’t qualify for nationals.

Also bowling for the Jayhawks in Buffalo are Jesse James, Alan Emmons, Jason Elliott and Marc D’Errico.