Denzel Valentine, Bill Self Win 2016 AP Player, Coach of the Year

Michigan State guard Denzel Valentine and Kansas head coach Bill Self were honored by the Associated Press on Thursday as college basketball's Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively.

Valentine averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per contest this season. The Jayhawks won their 12th straight Big 12 title and made it to the Elite Eight in this year's NCAA tournament for the sixth time in Self's tenure.

Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star captured Valentine and Self holding their hardware:

Oklahoma star Buddy Hield, whose Sooners advanced to the Final Four, finished only three votes behind Valentine for Player of the Year, per the AP.

Valentine received 34 of 65 first-place votes and became the first Spartans player to win the award. The coach results had Self gaining 21 votes, followed by Xavier's Chris Mack with 15 and Oregon's Dana Altman with 13.

For all the AP's marquee duo accomplished in the regular season, their March Madness runs didn't go quite as planned. Kansas entered the Big Dance as the No. 1 overall seed but fell in the South Regional final to Villanova, 64-59.

At least Self guided his squad to that point, because Michigan State suffered a far harsher fate. The Spartans were upset by 15th-seeded Middle Tennessee State in the round of 64, putting an abrupt halt to Valentine's phenomenal senior campaign.

Some solace can be had for both AP award recipients, who probably would have preferred greater team accomplishments over the individual recognition. College basketball featured numerous teams jockeying for No. 1 positioning all year, but Self's Jayhawks emerged as the consensus top-ranked team in both major polls.

The Spartans finished second in the last AP regular-season poll and were among the hottest teams entering the NCAA tournament, having won the Big Ten conference tourney. A lot of that was a credit to Valentine, but Michigan State unfortunately came out flat on the wrong day against a voracious underdog.

Self also won the AP Coach of the Year award in 2009 and figures to be in the conversation for a third before his time concludes in Lawrence.

As for Valentine, his decision to stay in school last year benefited him tremendously in terms of his future outlook. Bleacher Report expert Jonathan Wasserman recently projected him to be the 14th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. Thanks to the marked improvement Valentine showed and the leadership intangibles he's developed over the years, he appears poised to be an impact player in the NBA.