College Basketball Year End Awards

Monday Morning Point Guard
3/9/09
Special March Madness College Hoops Edition

March Madness will be taking center stage in the eyes of basketball fans all over starting this week, as conference tournaments are shown on our screens this week, and Selection Sunday is less than a week away. Bubble teams, arguments over who should be a No. 1 seed, the RPI debate, and many other topics will flood talk radio, blogs,and major networks, as “experts” weigh in their take. With the mens college basketball regular season coming to a conclusion, I wanted to dedicate this week’s MMPG entirely to college hoops, with my regular season award winners.

Coach of the Year - John Calipari , Memphis.
For a school that went to overtime last April in the national championship game, only to fall to Kansas, and then have virtually their entire team leave school, Coach Cal has done arguably one of his finer coaching performances this year. With the Tigers poised to win their conference tournament once again, Memphis is in serious consideration for a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. The Tigers, which are led by freshman Tyreke Evans, are a dangerous opponent for anyone in the country, and seem to be playing with a chip on their shoulder this year.

Underachiever of the Year - Georgetown Hoyas
John Thompson, III is one of my personal favorite coaches in college, yet the Hoyas bark was louder than their bite this season. At one point, GU was ranked in the top five, and boasting NBA first round talent in their starting five had fans thinking Final Four. Now, Georgetown will need to go deep in the Big East tournament to get any chance of making the field.

The “Christian Latener” Award(Most Loved by the Media) - Tyler Hansborough
The UNC forward, who broke virtually all of North Carolinas career records this season, is coming off a 2007 National Player of the Year season, and could have left to go pro last year. He, along with Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, elected to come back to Chapel Hill to win a national title. Roy Williams has his bunch primed to make a run, and Hansborough will be all over your TV screen on CBS over the next three and a half weeks. You will see agonizing shots of his family in the stands, where ever Carolina is playing, especially if the game is close/they are losing. The Tar Heels travel better than nearly any team in the country, so they will have sea of light blue in all the sights they will play at. Hansborough, who most feel will be a solid pro, but not to the level of his college career, better enjoy the moment over the next few weeks, because this is as good as it gets for him.

Dunk of the Year - Jeff Teague, Wake Forest.
In case you didn’t see it the first time, check it out here.

Player of the Year - Blake Griffin, Oklahoma.
This is probably the most obvious of all the awards. Before Griffin suffered a mild concussion, the Sooners were rolling, and Griffin was a double double nearly every night. Though they have taken a couple set backs recently, OU is still a legit title contender, and Blake has NBA scouts drooling at the potential to draft him. March Madness is a time when you see good college players have great runs, and we will see if Blake has a little “Carmelo” in him, and can take his team to the top.

Team To Watch This Week: Maryland. The Terps had a chance to sure up their NCAA tournament hopes by beating UVA this weekend. Of course, they did not. Now, they will have to do some work in the ACC Tourney, winning at least two games, and then hoping some other bubble teams fall short.

Check out LayupDrill.com’s special Selection Sunday instant analysis and breakdown of the entire NCAA field, along with predictions from our staff, and special guest writers from well respected sites all over the net, this Sunday night!