The regular season is over.
And you know what that means, right?
Yep, it's awards season here at CBSSports.com, a two-day extravaganza guaranteed to spark debate. Why? Because fans love to debate, that's why. And it should be loads of fun because debates about awards are always loads of fun ... for everybody except the person being called the idiot, which just so happens to always be the person selecting the awards, which, in this case, just so happens to be me.
(Sigh.)
Anyway, because it's me, you should probably know a little about me.
Or at least what I value in players when the topic turns to awards.
So here are three things I like:
1. Winners
Players who post big numbers on bad teams rarely impress me. Anybody can score points for bad teams because even bad teams score points, and somebody has to score them. So if you want to get my attention, you'd better make an impact on a winning team. Otherwise, I'm typically uninterested.
2. Program changers
I got tons of negative feedback for naming Michael Beasley the National Player of the Year last season, but I still think it was the right call. I mean, lots of people can lead North Carolina or UCLA to a Final Four, but how many can take Kansas State to the second round of the NCAA tournament? Answer: not many. And that's why I think it's important to remember to not just focus on the best players from the best teams, but to recognize the players who are taking a specific school to unusual heights. We always hear people ask, "Where would his team be without him?" In some cases, I take it a step farther and ask, "Where would his program be without him?" To me, that's a question worth asking.
3. Impressive statistics
Individual stats are not the end-all, be-all for me, as I've already explained. But I do enjoy a 30-point game as much as anybody, and the numbers can't be ignored. Do I simply select the guys with the best stats? No. But am I aware of and swayed by the stats? Yes, of course, to varying degrees.
And with that, I think we're ready to go.
Here are the third annual Uncle Gary Awards.
(Editor's note: Uncle Garys are awarded each postseason to the best player, freshman and coach in the top 16 conferences, according to the RPI. If you want an explanation as for why they are named so stupidly, you should click this link and read the initial explanation. If you don't care, don't click this link. Either way, the national awards and All-America teams are coming Tuesday.)
ACC
 |
| Player of the Year: Ty Lawson (North Carolina) |
| Freshman of the Year: Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest) |
| Coach of the Year: Dino Gaudio (Wake Forest) |
| Quick word: Lawson's assist-to-turnover ratio is 3.4-to-1, and he's shooting 54.5 percent from the field. |
Big Ten
 |
| Player of the Year: Talor Battle (Penn State) |
| Freshman of the Year: William Buford (Ohio State) |
| Coach of the Year: Tom Izzo (Michigan State) |
| Quick word: Izzo has a team in position to earn a No. 1 seed despite battling injuries all season. |
Big 12
 |
| Player of the Year: Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) |
| Freshman of the Year: Willie Warren (Oklahoma) |
| Coach of the Year: Bill Self (Kansas) |
| Quick word: Griffin needs one more double-double to set a Big 12 record. |
Big East
 |
| Player of the Year: DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh) |
| Freshman of the Year: Greg Monroe (Georgetown) |
| Coach of the Year: Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh) |
| Quick word: Dixon took a relatively unheralded group of recruits to a No. 1 ranking. |
Pac-10
 |
| Player of the Year: James Harden (Arizona State) |
| Freshman of the Year: Isaiah Thomas (Washington) |
| Coach of the Year: Lorenzo Romar (Washington) |
| Quick word: Thomas doesn't even have a strong challenger among Pac-10 freshmen. |
SEC
 |
| Player of the Year: Marcus Thornton (LSU) |
| Freshman of the Year: Terrico White (Ole Miss) |
| Coach of the Year: Trent Johnson (LSU) |
| Quick word: Johnson turned LSU around quickly, winning the SEC title in his first season at the school. |
Mountain West
 |
| Player of the Year: Luke Nevill (Utah) |
| Freshman of the Year: Afam Muojeke (Wyoming) |
| Coach of the Year: Jim Boylen (Utah) |
| Quick word: Nevill is averaging 16.9 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Utes. |
Atlantic 10
 |
| Player of the Year: Ahmad Nivins (Saint Joseph's) |
| Freshman of the Year: Andrew Nicholson (St. Bonaventure) |
| Coach of the Year: Jim Baron (Rhode Island) |
| Quick word: Baron has Rhode Island on the bubble despite being picked ninth in the A-10 preseason poll. |
Missouri Valley
 |
| Player of the Year: Booker Woodfox (Creighton) |
| Freshman of the Year: Kevin Dillard (Southern Illinois) |
| Coach of the Year: Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa) |
| Quick word: Jacobson's third season at UNI will end in the NCAA tournament. |
Conference USA
 |
| Player of the Year: Tyreke Evans (Memphis) |
| Freshman of the Year: Tyreke Evans (Memphis) |
| Coach of the Year: John Calipari (Memphis) |
| Quick word: Memphis is 22-0 since Calipari moved Evans to point guard. |
WAC
 |
| Player of the Year: Gary Wilkinson (Utah State) |
| Freshman of the Year: Luke Babbitt (Nevada) |
| Coach of the Year: Stew Morrill (Utah State) |
| Quick word: Babbitt is averaging 16.4 points and 7.5 rebounds for Mark Fox's Wolf Pack. |
Horizon
 |
| Player of the Year: Matt Howard (Butler) |
| Freshman of the Year: Gordon Hayward (Butler) |
| Coach of the Year: Brad Stevens (Butler) |
| Quick word: Stevens has the roster to dominate the Horizon for years to come. |
Metro Atlantic
 |
| Player of the Year: Kenny Hasbrouck (Siena) |
| Freshman of the Year: Scott Machado (Iona) |
| Coach of the Year: Fran McCaffery (Siena) |
| Quick word: McCaffery led Siena to a 16-2 league record. |
Colonial
 |
| Player of the Year: Eric Maynor (VCU) |
| Freshman of the Year: Julius Wells (James Madison) |
| Coach of the Year: Bruiser Flint (Drexel) |
| Quick word: Maynor is averaging 22.3 points and 6.2 assists per game for the Rams. |
West Coast
 |
| Player of the Year: John Bryant (Santa Clara) |
| Freshman of the Year: Kevin Foster (Santa Clara) |
| Coach of the Year: Eric Reveno (Portland) |
| Quick word: Reveno led Portland to 19 wins, the school's highest total in more than a decade. |
America East
 |
| Player of the Year: Marqus Blakely (Vermont) |
| Freshman of the Year: Jake O'Brien (Boston University) |
| Coach of the Year: Kevin Broadus (Binghamton) |
| Quick word: Broadus has Binghamton one win away from the NCAA tournament. |
