Right before Championship Week went into overdrive, I had to submit my ballot for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association postseason awards. This consists of All-District and All-America teams, and a national Player of the Year (Oscar Robertson Trophy), Freshman of the Year (Wayman Tisdale Award) and Coach of the Year (Henry Iba Award).
Every member votes for ten players on each of the two teams. Curiously, they did not have us vote for a district Player of the Year or Coach of the Year, although one was named for each. One thing that was a bit different in voting this year is that my vote for national Coach of the Year was a little easier in that I felt comfortable narrowing it down to just a couple of finalists. (If we voted for a District Coach of the Year, Harvard’s Tommy Amaker would get a slight nod over Northeastern’s Bill Coen and Connecticut’s Kevin Ollie.)
I have been a little remiss in sharing my vote, as ballots were due one week before Selection Sunday, but that has been the plan all along. As I am based in metropolitan Boston, my district is District 1, which consists of the six New England states. With that established, here is how I voted with some commentary, much like when I previously shared my votes for the CAA postseason awards. The All-District teams and award winners have been announced, and the national award winners will be announced as usual at the Final Four.
All-District Team
Ryan Anderson, Boston College
Kadeem Batts, Providence
Bryce Cotton, Providence
Alex Francis, Bryant
Xavier Munford, Rhode Island
Shabazz Napier, Connecticut
Wesley Saunders, Harvard
Joel Smith, Northeastern
Kyle Vinales, Central Connecticut
Chaz Williams, UMass
Anderson had ups and downs like a lot of BC’s team did during a year of growing pains, and while he got off to a fast start before coming back to earth he finished a solid sophomore year. Batts was one of the most improved players in the Big East, while Cotton led the conference in scoring and would have been my pick as District 1 Player of the Year if we voted on that separately. Francis had a big year in leading Bryant to the CBI in its first season eligible for postseason play, growing overall as a player and not just putting up big numbers like he did his first two seasons. Munford was one of the Atlantic 10’s top scorers despite playing on a bad team and being the target of opposing defenses every night. Napier was Connecticut’s leader in a season where the Huskies had no postseason to play for, coming into his own along the way. Saunders emerged as Harvard’s best player with an expanded role, and led them to another Ivy League title. Smith grew into a leader for Northeastern during non-conference play and had a stellar season in leading the Huskies to their first CAA regular season title since joining the conference. Vinales was the best scorer in the region despite opposing defenses keying on him all the time and his team having some struggles with several key players lost from a year ago. Williams led UMass to the verge of an NCAA Tournament bid before they settled for the NIT.
All-America Team
Trey Burke, Michigan
Shane Larkin, Miami
Doug McDermott, Creighton
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Victor Oladipo, Indiana
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga
Otto Porter Jr., Georgetown
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Russ Smith, Louisville
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
Burke led the way as Michigan became one of the country’s best teams, although they faded down the stretch. Larkin was to Miami as Burke was to Michigan as the Hurricanes were the surprise regular season champion in the ACC. McDermott dominated the Missouri Valley and a number of other opponents to get into the national Player of the Year discussion and lead Creighton to the conference title. McLemore made an instant impact at Kansas and was a big reason the Jayhawks won yet another Big 12 regular season title. Oladipo emerged as a star for Indiana as they were one of the nation’s best teams, especially down the stretch as the Hoosiers won a lot of big games. Olynyk had a tremendous year coming off a redshirt year last season and even managed to overshadow teammate Elias Harris, who capped a terrific career. Porter turned into a star in leading Georgetown to the top of the Big East, especially after they lost a key player at mid-season due to academics. Plumlee was a consistent double-double machine for Duke, a guy they could always hang their hat on inside while the guards did their work. Smith led Louisville to contention for a top spot in the Big East with a big year for the Cardinals. Thomas was one of the country’s best scorers for the Buckeyes, who had a nice stretch run as others emerged to help him.
National Player of the Year: Trey Burke, Michigan
This was a tough one. Many of the players I voted as All-Americans are well-qualified for this, as a case could also be made for the likes of McDermott, Oladipo, Porter, Plumlee and Smith. Burke’s team finished behind Oladipo’s in the loaded Big Ten – in fact, they were tied for fourth in their own conference. In the end, Burke was a model of consistency all season long, but especially in Big Ten play in the best year the conference has had in a long time. He scored at least 15 points in every game and led the conference in assists by a big margin. The Wolverines broke out to become one of the country’s best teams this season and Burke was at the nerve center of it all, running the show as Tim Hardaway Jr. became a bona fide star and Glenn Robinson III and Nick Stauskas made instant impacts as freshmen. And while one could knock this vote on where the Wolverines finished, at the end of the day there wasn’t a great deal of separation at the top of the Big Ten.
When it’s all said and done, I would be shocked if any player walked away with all of the various Player of the Year awards this time around. It’s just not that clear-cut this year.
National Coach of the Year: Jim Crews, Saint Louis
Miami’s Jim Larranaga got a lot of consideration here, but in the end, there was a simple thing to consider. Namely, how do you deal with the loss of a coach? Rick Majerus had to take a leave of absence before the season due to a serious medical issue, then passed away early in the season. Crews took over and led this team to the top of the Atlantic 10 in arguably the conference’s best year, turning back all the big contenders late in the season. Plenty of coaches do a great job every year, and it might not seem fair to others in some sense, but the reality is that it’s not every day a coach has to step in for a head coach whose health forces him away from the sideline and then from the planet. Crews did that and had the kind of season many expected they would have with Majerus at the helm.
National Freshman of the Year: Ben McLemore, Kansas
There were a few freshmen who made big impacts, including fellow Big 12 freshman Marcus Smart at Oklahoma State. McLemore had the best year up to the deadline in my mind, beating out the likes of Smart and UNLV’s Anthony Bennett, among others. McLemore helped lead the Jayhawks to another Big 12 regular season title as the catalyst of the offensive attack.
