UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior defenseman Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) has been named a finalist for the Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year while head coach Guy Gadowsky is one of three coaches in the running for Big Ten Coach of the Year as announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon.
This marks the third season the league has recognized the top-3 finalists for each individual award and the third-straight season a Penn State player has made the cut for DPOTY. Last season, sophomore Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) was a finalist while Trevor Hamilton '18 took home the hardware as the 2017-18 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Hults joins fellow defensemen Jared Rosburg (Michigan State) and Tory Dello (Notre Dame) as finalists for the DPOTY while also becoming the first Nittany Lion ever to be considered for Big Ten Player of the Year joining Strauss Mann (Michigan) and Cole Caufield (Wisconsin) as contenders.
The junior tied the Penn State single-season record for points by a defenseman with 30 a mark good first in the Big Ten by blueliners and tenth nationally among defensemen. Hults' eight goals this season mark a new career-high while tying the Penn State single-season record for goals by a defenseman.
Hults started the season strong netting the eighth hat-trick in program history and first-ever by a defenseman on opening night and has continued his strong play through conference action with four goals and a league-leading 17 assists in 24 games ranking seventh overall with 21 points in Big Ten games. The Stoughton, Wisconsin native also leads the entire Big Ten in plus/minus with a +23 rating, tied for sixth in the nation and fourth among blueliners.
Gadowsky, who has led Penn State to its first-ever Big Ten regular-season title and fifth-straight Big Ten tournament semifinal appearance, secured the seventh 20-win season of his collegiate coaching career and his fourth with the Nittany Lions with a 3-2n victory over Minnesota to close out the regular season.
The 2014-15 Big Ten Coach of the Year registered his 300th career victory earlier this year and currently ranks tied for 78th all-time throughout all divisions with 318 victories. Among Division I coaches all-time, Gadowsky ranks 45th with his 318 wins and is currently 13th among active NCAA Division I coaches.
Michigan's Mel Pearson and Minnesota's Bob Motzko join Gadowsky as finalists for the 2019-20 Big Ten Coach of the Year.
The Nittany Lions will battle Motzko and the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a single game Big Ten semifinal contest on Saturday evening with puck drop slated for 7 p.m.
