As the season comes to close soon, the ending remains in doubt and likely should. After all, it was Duke or UNC's National Championship to lose last year, and they both managed to when Maryland survived scares against St. John's and Utah (who had their Final Four ticket within reach) en route to their suprising run to the title. Will this year be the same scenario, or will this finally be the year when the Susan Lucci of women's college basketball, Coach G, gets to celebrate a national title and begin catching up with Coach K? There are many awards to hand out, so let's get started:
Team of the Year: Duke (Picked to finish third in the ACC, they have virtually steamrolled everyone, including the not-to-shabby UNC, Maryland twice and Tennessee. Will it continue or will they flounder?) Runner-Up: UNC (Still here. Still threatening. Waiting for Latta and Larkins to wake up!)
Player of the Year: Lindsey Harding, Duke (Candace Parker who? She doesn't hold a stick compared to Harding this season. She might get all the ink, but I think unfairly. Harding is the true POY.) Runner-up: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma (Perhaps the most dominant post ever in the game and she is only a sophomore. She single-handily is keep the Sooners at the top of the Big 12 and the national scene.)
Coach of the Year: Pokey Chatman, LSU (It would be easy to say Coach G, Pat, Geno...the usual suspects, but I think Chatman, who has kept the Lady Tigers relevant this season has done the best job. After losing National POY and all-everything Seimone Augustus and coming off three straight trips to the Final Four, Chatman has kept the Tigers in the Top10 and in reality is a legitimate two seed going into the NCAA. While the team is nearly all juniors, they are nearly all playing significant time for the first time this season, as the Tigers also lost a great player in Scholanda Hoston, as well as Florence Williams. While they have five losses (by a combined 11 points) they nearly upset a Tennessee and UConn team in the hunt for the national title and clearly can defeat anyone. In just her third full season, Chatman is an excellent coach who is just getting started.) Runner-up: Charly Turner-Thorne, Arizona State (Another up-and-comer, Turner-Thorne has become a legitimate threat to the dominance of Stanford year after year and that is what the Pac-10 needs. Only losses this season, all by single digits, came to the Cardinal twice and to Tennessee. Not too shabby for a program that gets little press.)
Freshman of the Year: Tina Charles, UConn Runner-up: Jayne Appel, Stanford (currently injured)
Best League: ACC (The league may be top heavy, but when a conference has three of the best teams in the land, along with nice supporting players FSU and NC State, it deserves the honors.) Runner-up: SEC
NCAA Sleeper Pick: Bowling Green Runner-up: Middle Tennessee
ACC Coach of the Year: Gail Goestenkors, Duke
SEC Coach of the Year: Pokey Chatman, LSU
Big 12 Coach of the Year: Gary Blair, Texas A&M
Big East Coach of the Year: Tom Cullen, Louisville
Pac-10 Coach of the Year: Charly Turner-Thorne, ASU
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Joanne P. McAuley, MSU
A-10 Coach of the Year: Joe McKeown, GW
MAC Coach of the Year: Curt Miller, BGSU
MWC Coach of the Year: Elaine Elliot, Utah
ACC POY: Lindsey Harding, Duke
SEC POY: Candace Parker, Tennessee
Big 12 POY: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma
Big East POY: Tina Charles, UConn
Pac-10 POY: Candace Wiggins, Stanford
Big Ten POY: Jessica Davenport, OSU
A-10 POY: Amber Harris, Xavier
MAC POY: Amber Flynn, BGSU
MWC POY: Mallory Gillespie, BYU
1 comment:
I'm curious as to what your reasoning is behind selecting Amber Flynn as MAC POY. Flynn was the team's most improved player last year, but Ali Mann has been and still is BG's MVP. Amber has been a solid contributer for the Bowling Green Falcons, but Ali Mann has to be the unquestioned MAC POY. Mann is not only the team leading scorer, but is the heart and soul of BG's team.
Post a Comment