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ATLANTIC 10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Stanley Burrell (Xavier)\nThis could have gone to Josh Duncan or Drew Lavender, but I think that Burrell is the glue that keeps this team together.\u00a0 He is one of the best defensive players in the country and scores in double-figures for the Musketeers.\u00a0 When I heard that not only did a Xavier player not win the actual A-10 POY, but no Xavier player was named to the all-conference first team, I was appalled.\u00a0 This is the best team the A-10 has had in several years.\u00a0 Apparently, Mr. Burrell agrees with me<\/a>.<\/p>\n
ATLANTIC 10 COACH OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Fran Dunphy (Temple) ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Tyler Hansborough (UNC) BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Luke Harangody (Notre Dame) BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Bobby Huggins (West Virginia) SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Shan Foster (Vanderbilt) SEC COACH OF THE YEAR:\u00a0 <\/strong>Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt) PAC 10 COACH OF THE YEAR:\u00a0 <\/strong>Herb Sendek (Arizona St.) BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR:\u00a0 <\/strong>D.J. White (Indiana) I know that the conferences have all released their Players of the Year and Coaches of the Year, but I made a list\u00a0a couple of weeks back\u00a0as to who I thought deserved these honors in each conference.\u00a0 Honestly, I am … Continue reading
\nAs great as Sean Miller has been, there is a lot of veteran talent on that team that is probably leading the team as much as Miller is.\u00a0 Dunphy has won me over (I was a critic) and brought this Temple team back from obscurity in just two years.\u00a0 And, he has done it with only one starting senior, very leftover pieces from the great John Chaney and all while adapting a brand-new style to the Owls.<\/p>\n
\nAn obvious selection, as he is the best player on the best team.\u00a0 Personally, though, I think he falls just a little short for national player of the year–more on this in a minute.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/images.military.com\/Data\/MIB\/Careers\/Pics\/montel_williams_90x120.jpg\")
ACC COACH OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oliver Purnell (Clemson)
\nThis guy can flat out coach, there are no two ways about it.\u00a0 As an A-10 fan, I watched as his Dayton teams used to win a ton of games with less talent than most teams they played.\u00a0 He is finally getting some attention on the national stage.<\/p>\n
\nActually, I made this list the night that Notre Dame played Louisville and I was watching as Harangody just refused to let his team lose.\u00a0 He made the only 3 three-pointers of his career in the waning seconds of that game, en route to 40.\u00a0 Though the Irish lost that game, it was enough for me to think of ‘Gody as the Big East player of the year.<\/p>\n
\nNo matter what you think of Coach Huggins, the guy just wins.\u00a0 He finished in 5th place in the Big East with 10th place talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/images.tsn.ca\/images\/stories\/20080130\/Beasley_83200.jpg\")
BIG XII PLAYER OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Michael Beasley
\n(Kansas St.)
\nThis is a no-brainer.\u00a0 I am sure everyone has heard all the accolades, but have you really looked at the numbers<\/a>, they are astonishing!\u00a0 26.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 steals, almost 40% from 3-point range.\u00a0 The guy is simply incredible, and there is no doubt in my mind that he should be the national player of the year.\u00a0 This is interesting because back at the beginning of the year, I said that Hansborough would win<\/a> the player of the year honors easily, but Doogan thought that there would be a surprise player of the year from the freshman class<\/a>.\u00a0 Now, I am going with the freshman Beasley and, last time we discussed this, I believe that Doogan would vote for Hansborough, if given the opportunity.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.texassports.com\/images\/mbbimages\/2002_03\/012\/barnes_rick_200_20.jpg\")
BIG XII COACH OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Rick Barnes (Texas)
\nThis is one coach who I believe does not get nearly enough credit for what he does with the talent he has.\u00a0 I have heard time and time again, “Rick Barnes is a heck of a recruiter, but I just don’t trust him as a basketball coach.”\u00a0 Well, I completely disagree.\u00a0 Yes, he can recruit the likes of Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin, but he has also shown a great ability to get the most out of his teams.\u00a0 This year is a perfect example.\u00a0 Other than Augustin, who is a true star on that Texas team?\u00a0 Damion James is a nice player.\u00a0 A.J. Abrams is a great shooter, but not much else.\u00a0 Justin Mason is a phenomenal athlete, but his basketball skills are somewhat lacking.\u00a0 And, I think we can all agree that Connor Atchley has maxed out his talent.\u00a0 And, only Abrams and Atchley are older than sophomores, yet this team was in the discussion for a #1 seed and is a legit Final Four, if not national title, contender.\u00a0 As to why\u00a0I always feel like I have to defend Rick Barnes…I have no idea.<\/p>\n
\nI actually do not know if Foster did end up winning this award, but he certainly deserves it.\u00a0 He has been everything for the Commodores, in a surprisingly strong season.<\/p>\n
\nIf this was just an SEC regular season award, Billy Gillespie at Kentucky would have to be in consideration, but how can you overlook the atrocious non-conference schedule?\u00a0 And, I do not think Gillespie (or Kentucky) should be overly rewarded for “recovering” from an awful start.\u00a0 Yes, it is impressive, but home losses to San Diego and Gardner-Webb should never happen in the first place.\u00a0 That being said, Gillespie did a fantastic job, yet in my opinion, not as fantastic as Stallings did at Vandy.\u00a0 Taking a team that was picked near the bottom of the SEC and keeping them in contention for the SEC title all year and nationally-ranked?\u00a0 That is a great coaching job.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/media.scout.com\/Media\/Image\/30\/307016.jpg\")
PAC 10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Brook & Robin Lopez (Stanford)
\nWhere does Stanford get these 7-foot twins?\u00a0 This year’s version is a\u00a0do-it-all big man and a ferocious defender.\u00a0 The pair\u00a0was simply unstoppable this year for the Cardinal, leading them to a clear second-place finish in the best conference in the country.\u00a0 Brook, the better of the two, should actually win this award, but Robin is extremely underrated.<\/p>\n
\nI seriously considered changing my vote to Howlin or Johnson with\u00a0ASU’s failings down the stretch, but I am going to stick with my pick.\u00a0 I always thought Sendek was a terrific coach at N.C. State (I have no idea why they let him go) and he did an equally terrific job in Tempe this year.\u00a0 It is a shame that they did not get into the NCAA tournament (I agree with the Committee that they did not deserve to) because they would have been a tough out.<\/p>\n
\nWhite finally started playing like the player everyone thought he could be.\u00a0 Maybe he needed an Eric Gordon to take the pressure off, but whatever it was, White was sensational this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.purdueexponent.org\/2004\/04\/09\/images\/thumb-painter.jpg\")
BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR:\u00a0 <\/strong>Matt Painter (Purdue)
\nIf he just listened to Doogan<\/a>, Kelvin Sampson would have probably been my choice, but instead it goes to an equally qualified Matt Painter.\u00a0 Talk about doing more with less.\u00a0 Painter has some nice, young players, but they were second in the Big Ten and nationally-ranked for most of the second half of the season.\u00a0 That is a great coaching job by a guy who is going to be there for a long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"