Players of the Year

By Sara Normand

Yes, players. Plural. With so much talent in college basketball these days, it’s difficult to narrow the field down to ONE athlete for the player of the year award. So, I’ll narrow it down to the top 5 candidates in my opinion, in no specific order, and leave the dirty work up...
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[wpeery]

Sara,

Good column, but it loses all credibility with me due to the fact that it is missing of a player that everybody in the country has listed in the front runners for National Player of the Year:Kansas's Wayne Simien. Not only is he likely to be the choice for Big 12 Player of the Year, he's a frontrunner for National Player of the Year. If you don't have him on the list, clearly it's a big mistake, because Simien has simply been a man among boys all season long on the hardwood and has his Jayhawks in control of their own destiny for the Big 12 title. Throughout the season, Simien has averaged a double-double, controlling the post against opposing defenses by pouring in 19.2 points and corraling 10.8 rebounds per contest. Wayne Simien is the most complete player in college basketball in my opinion, because of his ability to take over a game on the offensive end with his scoring ability inside and then he can control the glass with his ability to snag rebounds. Kansas was recently on a three-game skid and was in serious trouble, but they found the perfect method to fix that: Simien. Eighth-ranked Kansas kept its outside hopes of gaining a number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament by defeating the fourth-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. They fed the ball to Simien early and often and after it was all said and done, Simien had piled in 32 points while grabbing 12 rebounds for the Jayhawks in the 81-79 thriller over the Cowboys.
Don't simply take my word for it, Oklahoma State's Joey Graham called Simien after the brilliant performance, "Big 12 Player of the Year". Anybody who is likely to win Big 12 Player of the Year has to be mentioned among the nation's top 5 players, because while the Big 12 may not be as deep as other conferences, it still has two legitimate national title contenders in Kansas and Oklahoma State. For Simien to play that brilliantly on such a big stage certainly has to place him among the top 5 candidates for Player of the Year, if not make him the front-runner. When his team needed him the most, he delivered and has helped to turn his team's season around with the big win against the Cowboys. Without Simien, Kansas is far from being a one-seed in the NCAA Tourney and everybody in the country knows that because he's the most complete player in college basketball. It would be better to not have a list of Player of the Year Candidates at all if it were not going to have Wayne Simien, because without him, the list loses all credibility.

Nothing against Wayne Simien. He's had a great season when healthy, averaging a double-double. But how can you downplay what Craig Smith has done for this Boston College team? He leads the BIG EAST in rebounds and is top 5 in scoring. So Simien will take Big 12 player of the year. Good for him, seriously. Well, Smith will take Big East player of the year. So how does one choose? Take a look at the Big East and tell me that's not the toughest basketball conference besides the ACC. They're looking to get EIGHT teams in the tournament. That's some tough opposition for the big guy, and Al Skinner, BC's coach, feels Smith should definitely win player of the year award. The Big 12 will get four teams in at the most! If I had picked six players, then sure, count Simien in, but I just don't think he had the breakout year that Smith had. How come Simien didn't step up earlier to stop Kansas' three game slide? You have to take into consideration a lot of factors, including how tough his opponents are, how well he improved from last year, how far he's taken his team, this year's numbers, and surprise factor. Boston College is in first place in the conference, and Smith has improved his points per game, his shot, his inside threat, and his free throw percentage up to 70% instead of 57%. Everyone knew Simien would lead Kansas again, but who would have ever guessed the Eagles would be a top 5 team in the nation and go undefeated most of the year?

[mark_chalifoux]

Chris Paul is still the frontrunner for the POY, and I would take Paul over Slim and Reddick any day. But to think that Simien is a frontrunner is a joke, as he has been anything but consistent. All-American? I might vote him second team, but he's not getting on my first team ballot