ACC:
UVA won
their first regular season title since 1981 and finished with a 16-2 record
after losing their last game Sunday in overtime to Maryland. Syracuse got back
on the winning track by blowing out Florida State to claim the two seed in the
ACC tournament and Duke put a second half whooping on UNC to win the
tie-breaker for the three seed. Right now it is looking like only five ACC
teams will make the tournament with two of them (Cuse and Pittsburgh) having
just come over from the Big East. Outside of the top programs in the conference
it definitely was another lackluster season for the ACC as a whole.
Player of
the Year:
TJ Warren
(NC State) – 25.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg
If I had to
guess, I would go ahead and say that Jabari Parker will probably get the POY
nod from the media over TJ Warren; however I have to give the slight nod to the
sophomore forward from N.C. State.
Before we get to the stats, let’s start with expectations. Duke was
predicted to finish first in the ACC with N.C. State coming in tenth. Duke went
13-5 and tied with North Carolina for third place (although they won the tie
breaker). Meanwhile, N.C. State finished at 9-9 and sits all alone in seventh
place. N.C. State exceeded expectations while Duke never really mounted a
battle for the regular season crown. Second, why don’t we talk about
surrounding talent? Coach K took advantage of his plethora of perimeter players
and spaced the court with shooters lined up all over the place. Teams were
forced to guard Parker one on one and could very rarely offer up any help in
fear of giving up an open three to the second best offense in the country. Meanwhile,
not one person on the Wolfpack gave coaches fits at night besides Warren. The
paint was clogged with big men Jordan Vandenberg and Kyle Washington, while
Tyler Lewis and Ralston Turner manned the guard spots. With a lack of talent,
teams were free to focus on Warren at every opportunity.
Now, we can
talk individual stats. Warren led the conference in scoring by a wide margin at
25.5 ppg while Parker averaged 17.6. Parker led the league in rebounds with 9.8
per game compared to Warren who averaged 6.5 rpg. Score one for Parker. In ACC
play, Warren took 318 shots and hit them at a rate of 52.5%. After struggling
to start conference play, Warren shot 50% or better in 12 of his last 14 games
compared to Parker who shot 45% and only shot 50% or better in eight games.
Parker looked unstoppable going for a career high 30 points against UNC, but
Warren went for 41 points against Pittsburgh and 42 points against Boston
College in the last week of play. Warren did more for his undermanned team than
Parker and did it in a more efficient manner.
All
Conference Team:
Jabari
Parker (Duke) – 17.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg
Parker came
along way in a two month span. In the freshman’s first ACC game he was benched
for the final five minutes due to lackluster a play and was content to shoot
jump shots. 17 games later, Parker was a beast destroying UNC in his best game
of the year. No matter who was guarding him, Parker attacked relentlessly and
finished 10-17 from the floor and recorded his sixth straight game with double
figure rebounds. Earlier in the week, Duke lost to Wake Forest as 11 point
favorites, but Parker went 7-11 and had 19 points and 10 rebounds. For most of
the ACC season, Parker did not have his shot going from behind the arc, but
with two three’s on Saturday he finished a hair over 30% in ACC play. Just
missing out on the POY award, Parker easily wins the award as top freshman.
Marcus
Paige (UNC) – 16.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.8 apg
It can be
argued that Paige meant the most to his team. Without #2ndHalfPaige, there is a
good chance that UNC would have been fighting for a spot on the bubble. Instead
the sophomore point guard led the Tar Heels to a 12-1 finish after getting off
to a 1-4 conference start. Paige averaged 17.6 points per game over the last 13
and hit countless clutch shots in wins over Duke and Florida State, and also a
buzzer beater in overtime to defeat N.C. State. Sporting one of the prettiest
jump shots in college basketball, the Tar Heels are going to need a high
scoring performance every time they take the court to advance in the NCAA
tournament.
Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia) – 15 ppg, 5.8 rpg,
3 apg, 1.4 spg
Mr.
Consistent. The best player on the top team in the conference averaged 14.8 ppg
and 5.8 rpg and was the only player to score in double figures in every single
ACC game. The 6’5” red-shirt sophomore only shot 44.8% from the field, but he
led the conference in free throw shooting at 88.8%. He scored a season high 19
points against Syracuse and also hit the game winning three against Pittsburgh.
Everyone assumed Joe Harris was going to be the UVA player to make first team
all-conference, but Brogdon has been the Cavaliers steady hand throughout the
year.
C.J. Fair
(Syracuse) – 16.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg
Syracuse
struggled down the stretch in ACC play, but Fair made sure they entered
tournament play on a winning note with 22 points and seven rebounds against
Florida State. The pre-season POY came close to living up to the early billing,
but was not as dominant as some of the other players on this list. He did score
in double figures in 17 out of 18 games and is usually a match-up mis-match for
opponents.
Freshman of
the Year:
Jabari
Parker (Duke)
PAC-12:
Player of
the Year:
Kyle
Anderson (UCLA) – 15.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.6 apg
Nick
Johnson has a very strong case for Player of the Year, but I am going with
Slo-Mo. Throughout the year, Anderson has put up ridiculous stats while leading
UCLA to a second place finish. While he never put up a triple double he had
seven double-digit rebounding performances and three double-digit assist
performances. He also scored in double figures in all but three games. Why does
Anderson get the nod over Johnson? During the year, Johnson averaged 16.2
points per game, but only shot 40% from the floor and he had only six games
where he shot 50% or better. Johnson’s team won the regular season and is one
of the top teams in the country, but the talent level of Arizona’s starting
five is more talented than that of UCLA’s.
All
Conference Team:
Nick
Johnson (Arizona) – 16.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Johnson went
for 25 points in a close win over Oregon State, but came back down to earth
with just 11 points in a loss to Oregon. Earlier in the year Johnson was a lock
for first team All-American but then went through a shooting slump in the
middle of conference play highlighted by a 1-14 performance in a loss to Cal.
When Brandon Ashley went out, it took awhile for Johnson to get going again,
but he came up big in a road win at Colorado.
Delon
Wright (Utah) – 16.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 4.9 apg
The Utah
stat-stuffer was busy again this past week on the road in Northern California.
Wright went for 11 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in a win over Cal
and then put up 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in a one point loss
to Stanford. Besides for Anderson, Wright is the most versatile threat in the
PAC-12 and one of the more underrated players in the country. Utah went 9-9 in
the PAC 12 this year with seven of their nine losses coming under four points. Wright
will need a strong showing in the PAC-12 tournament in order to make a long
awaited tournament appearance.
Jahii
Carson (Arizona State) – 18.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.9 apg
The Sun
Devils ended their season with two losses in Oregon, but Carson put up two
strong performances going for an average of 26 in the two games. In his last
year of play, Carson was one of the hardest covers in the conference and turned
Herb Sendek’s fortunes around with their first tournament appearance since the
James Harden era.
Chasson
Randle (Stanford) – 18.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg
Chasson
Randle replaces Justin Cobbs as the two California guards have gone in opposite
directions over the past few weeks. Randle went for 24 points against Colorado
and followed that up with 22 points in a one point win over Utah on Saturday.
For the season, Randle averaged 18.9 points per game and led Stanford to a 10-8
record.
Freshman of
the Year:
Aaron
Gordon (Arizona) – 12.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg
In a loss
to Oregon, Gordon was the only Wildcat to put up a fight with 21 points and
eight rebounds. The best freshmen in the PAC-12 ended the season with 12.2
points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Gordon picked up his scoring over the past
few weeks and was one of the main reasons the Wildcats were able to overcome
the loss of power forward Brandon Ashley. Gordon was the front runner for this
award all year; however Nigel Williams-Goss was not too far behind. The
Washington freshman averaged 13.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 4.4 apg while shooting 47%from
the field.
AAC:
I don’
think anyone thought the AAC conference championship was going to be split
between Louisville and Cincinnati and a coin flip had to be used to determine
who is going to be the #1 seed in the AAC conference tourney. The Bearcats
knocked off Memphis earlier in the week on Sean Kilpatrick’s senior day and
held off lowly Rutgers. The Cardinals
had two impressive wins with a road victory at SMU and a senior day demolishing
of UCONN.
Player of
the Year:
Shabazz
Napier (UCONN) – 19.3 ppg, 4.7 apg, 5.7 rpg 1.7, spg
In maybe
the closest conference POY race in college basketball, Shabazz Napier edges out
Russ Smith of Louisville and Sean Kilpatrick of Cincinnati for AAC player of
the year. Without Napier, UCONN isn’t a ranked team, nor a contender in the top
heavy AAC. Napier is one of five players
in the country and certainly the only player in the AAC to lead his team in
points, assists rebounds and steals. UCONN hasn’t seen a player of this caliber
since Kemba Walker and the AAC may never see a more complete player in quite
some time.
All
Conference Team:
Sean
Kilpatrick (Cincinnati) – 22.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg
The AAC’s
leading scorer had a stellar season in leading UC to a share of the conference
championship. The fifth year senior
finished his career in style with going for 34 points against Memphis and 24
points against Rutgers. Kilpatrick never scored less than 13 points and scored
20+ points more than 10 times in AAC contests. In most years, this would be more
than enough to be POY.
Russ Smith
(Louisville) – 18.0 ppg, 4.6 apg, 2.33 spg
Russdiculous
ended his senior year with big time wins over SMU and UCONN for the streaking
Cardinals. Smith had 26 point and five assists in a road win versus SMU.
Against UCONN, Russ only attempted two shots and ended up with only 3 points
but he had a career high 13 assists in the blowout victory.
Montrezl
Harrell (Louisville) – 15.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Harrell
might have played his last regular season games in college hoops after going
beast mode against SMU and UCONN. The
AAC’s leading rebounder had 19 points and 8 rebounds against SMU and owned his
individual matchup with Markus Kennedy.
Against an overmatched UCONN frontcourt, he had 20 points and 11
rebounds. Harrell has established himself as the best big man in the AAC and
one of the best in the country with his aggressive play, rebounding, defensive
prowess and uncanny dunking ability.
Nic Moore
(SMU) – 14.2 ppg, 4.7 apg
To round
out the AAC all conference team, Nic Moore has been the catalyst for SMU’s
emergence in the AAC. The sophomore has been the leading scorer and assist man
for the Mustangs, who will be making their first NCAA tourney appearance since
1983.
Freshman of
the Year:
Austin
Nichols (Memphis) – 9.5 ppg and 4.1 rpg
Freshman
forward Austin Nichols edges out Terry Rozier of Louisville for the AAC
freshman of the year. Nichols has been a
starter for Memphis all season and become an integral part of the offense and a
strong defensive player. He’s the fourth
leading rebounder and leading scorer amongst AAC freshman. He came on strong late in AAC play ended the
regular season with a 14 point, three block and nine rebound performance
against SMU.
SEC:
Top ranked
Florida steamrolled the competition and completed an undefeated SEC season and
first undefeated season since UK two years ago. UK finished second in the conference but was a
distant six games back of the Gators.
Player of
the Year:
Scotty
Wilbekin (Florida) – 13.4 ppg, 3.8 apg
The Gator’s
point guard has been the most important player for the best team in the
country. He’s been the player that orchestrates all the pieces of the Florida
team and makes them the best in the land. Time and time again in SEC play, he
has hit clutch shots, made the right pass and played superior defense for the
Gators. This past week, Scottie tallied 13 points, four assists and three
rebounds againstKentucky in a convincing win.
All
Conference Team:
Julius
Randle (Kentucky) – 13.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg (Freshman of the Year)
The SEC
freshman of the year had an outstanding season for the Wildcats. He averaged a double double in SEC play and
was easily the best power forward and might have been the freshman in SEC since
fellow Wildcat, Anthony Davis. The Cats
went 1-1 this week but Randle was one of the bright spots. In a loss to Florida, Randle had 16 points,
10 rebounds, and shot 7-11 from the field against a very experienced and
talented Florida frontline.
Jabari
Brown (Missouri) – 20.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.4 apg
The SEC’s
leading scorer was one of the most consistent players all season in conference
play. Brown only had one game in single digits for the entire season. As the season progressed his assist totals
improved and he carried Missouri on his back. The Tigers are going to have to
win the SEC tourney to get in the big dance, and with Brown, they’ll have a
shot due to his leadership and knack to make clutch plays.
Jarnell Stokes
(Tennessee) – 15.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg
The double
double machine has lead Tenneessee to win five of their last six games and
seems to have helped them lock up an NCAA tourney birth. The SEC’s leading rebounder has lived up to
his preseason billing as one of the premier bigs in the SEC.
Trevor
Releford (Alabama) -18.9 ppg, 3.5 apg, 2.0 spg
The senior has
been a stalwart in his tenure with the Crimson Tide. He’s the SEC leader in
steals, and finished up as one of the leading scorers in the SEC. Despite Bama
not making any waves in the conference, Releford has been an elite player and
kept Bama a threat in most of their games.
Big 10:
POY:
Nick
Stauskas (Michigan) – 17 ppg, 3 rpg, 3.5 apg
All
Conference Team:
Roy Devyn
Marble (Iowa) – 18.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.4 apg
Terran
Petteway (Nebraska) – 18.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg
Gary Harris
(Michigan State) – 17.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.6 apg
Ben Brust
(Wisconsin) – 12.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg
Freshman of
the Year:
Noah Vonleh
(Indiana) – 11.5 ppg, 9 rpg
