photo by: Photo courtesy of Ottawa University

Ottawa guards Jaquan Daniels (0) and Jackson Mallory (31) talk with Braves coach Aaron Siebenthall during a game earlier this season.

Ottawa University men’s basketball coach Aaron Siebenthall recently added another honor to an already memorable 2019-20 season.

Siebenthall, a 1994 Lawrence High graduate who’s now in his fifth year as the head coach at Ottawa, was named the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association’s Four-Year Men’s College Coach of the Year last week.

In addition to taking the Braves back to the NAIA Division II national tournament for the first time since 2009, Siebenthall led Ottawa to a school-record 28 overall victories and an all-time best 19 conference wins during a season cut short in postseason play by the COVID-19 crisis.

Ottawa won the regular-season title in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference by two games with a 19-5 record. The Braves, who finished the season 28-6, also ended with a No. 5 overall ranking in the NAIA Division II polls and had advanced to the Sweet 16 in Sioux Falls, S.D., when the season was called off.

“I could not be more proud of coach Siebenthall for the way he has led this program to unprecedented heights and success,” said former Ottawa coach Andy Carrier, who hired Siebenthall as an assistant 14 years ago. “I am not surprised he has had this success. He does things the right way and with class.”

Siebenthall, who also earned his conference’s coach of the year award earlier this year, said he was merely one of the people who played a part in the Braves’ run back to national prominence.

“I am extremely honored to be receiving this award,” Siebenthall said in a news release. “While this award may have my name on it, (it) is a reflection of the hard work of many.”

He thanked his assistant coaches, Phil McClintock — a former Ottawa All-American — and Jamie Batish, along with the team’s managers, for their “dedication and loyalty” to the program. He thanked Ottawa’s eight seniors for attacking their varying roles on the team with “energy, effort and enthusiasm.” He thanked OU’s administration, support staff, president, chancellor and athletic director for allowing him to run “a first-class program.”

And he thanked his wife, Shayla, and daughters, Berkley and LJ, for putting up with him always being gone and still being his “biggest cheerleaders, win or lose.”

This season marks the third time Ottawa’s men’s head basketball coach has won the KBCA’s top coaching honor. Carrier also won the award in 1994-95 and 2008-09.