Analyzing the Major Conference Awards
Posted by rtmsf on March 11th, 2011Amidst all the hullabaloo about conference tournament action this week, it might have been easy to overlook the major conference awards that were handed out earlier this week. We thought it would be a good idea to get them all in one place and see if anything weird happened. We’ll first list the teams from each of the BCS conferences plus the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West, and then add some quick thoughts after each one.
ACC All-Conference Team
- Nolan Smith- Guard- Duke
- Malcolm Delaney- Guard- Virginia Tech
- Reggie Jackson- Guard- Boston College
- Kyle Singler- Forward- Duke
- Jordan Williams- Forward- Maryland
Player of the Year- Nolan Smith- Guard- Duke
Coach of the Year- Roy Williams- North Carolina
Freshman of the Year- Harrison Barnes- Forward- North Carolina
Quick Thoughts. We have no issues with these selections. It is interesting that North Carolina won the regular season title and had zero guys on the first team, although, the Heels put Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson on the conference’s second team, and Kendall Marshall on the third team (even though he didn’t start half the season). And as much as Barnes was criticized this year for not living up to oversized expectations, he still managed to win ACC FrOY and make the second team.
Big East All-Conference Team
- Ben Hansbrough- Guard- Notre Dame
- Kemba Walker- Guard- Connecticut
- Dwight Hardy- Guard- St. John’s
- Marshon Brooks- Guard- Providence
- Ashton Gibbs- Guard- Pittsburgh
- Austin Freeman- Guard- Georgetown
Player of the Year- Ben Hansbrough – Guard- Notre Dame
Coach of the Year- Mike Brey- Notre Dame
Freshman of the Year- Cleveland Melvin- Forward- DePaul
Quick Thoughts. An argument could be made that Kemba Walker should have been player of the year, but Hansbrough was the best player on a team that finished second in the conference; Connecticut finished ninth (notwithstanding his play this week thus far). An argument can also be made that Syracuse big man Rick Jackson deserved a spot on the first team, as he was an inside scoring and rebounding stalwart for the third place Orange. While Brey was probably the strongest candidate for coach of the year, it would have been reasonable to consider Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon, Louisville’s Rick Pitino and St. John’s Steve Lavin.
Big 12 All-Conference Team
- LaceDarius Dunn- Guard- Baylor
- Alec Burks- Guard- Colorado
- Jacob Pullen- Guard- Kansas State
- Marcus Denmon- Guard- Missouri
- Jordan Hamilton- Forward- Texas
- Marcus Morris- Forward- Kansas
Player of the Year- Marcus Morris- Forward- Kansas
Coach of the Year- Bill Self- Kansas
Freshman of the Year- Tristan Thompson- Forward- Texas
Quick Thoughts. A legitimate case could be made for Kansas forward Markieff Morris or Thompson replacing Dunn on the All-Conference Team due to Baylor’s struggles and Dunn’s inconsistencies; however, Dunn did finish the season averaging over 19 points a game. Self was deserving of coach of the year after leading the Jayhawks to a conference title after the losses of Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins. The only other coach for whom a case could have been made for was Texas A&M’s Mark Turgeon, who has led the Aggies to a national ranking despite having a mostly new lineup.
Big Ten All-Conference Team
- Jordan Taylor- Guard- Wisconsin
- E’Twaun Moore- Forward- Purdue
- Jon Leuer- Forward- Wisconsin
- JaJuan Johnson- Forward- Purdue
- Jared Sullinger- Forward- Ohio State
Player of the Year- JaJuan Johnson- Forward- Purdue
Coach of the Year- Matt Painter- Purdue
Freshman of the Year- Jared Sullinger- Forward- Ohio State
Quick Thoughts. Maybe someone could say that Penn State guard Talor Battle should be on the first team, as he averaged over 20 points a game, but it would be hard to take any of the above five off the team in his place (and the Big Ten only selects five, unlike other leagues). JJJ certainly deserves accolades considering the fantastic season he’s had, but Sullinger may end up winning some NPOY awards. Matt Painter did an exceptional job of leading his team to a top ten ranking throughout the season following the loss of Robbie Hummel, but other coaches are just as deserving. Ohio State head coach Thad Matta led his squad to the Big Ten title and the number one national ranking following the departure of last season’s national player of the year, Evan Turner. Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan once again took the Badgers from unranked in the preseason to a top fifteen national ranking.
Pac-10 All-Conference Team
- Jorge Gutierrez- Guard- California
- Jeremy Green- Guard- Stanford
- Malcolm Lee- Guard- UCLA
- Isaiah Thomas- Guard- Washington
- Klay Thompson- Guard- Washington State
- Derrick Williams- Forward- Arizona
- Tyler Honeycutt- Forward- UCLA
- Reeves Nelson- Forward- UCLA
- Nikola Vucevic- Forward- USC
- Matthew Bryan-Amaning- Forward- Washington
Player of the Year- Derrick Williams- Forward- Arizona
Coach of the Year- Sean Miller- Arizona
Freshman of the Year- Allen Crabbe- Guard- California
Quick Thoughts. It is interesting that Arizona won the regular season title and only put one player on the first team, while UCLA put three players, but it shows how dominant Derrick Williams was, as well as the exceptional coaching job done by Sean Miller. While Miller fully deserved to win coach of the year, USC’s late surge should leave Kevin O’Neill deserving of some mention. If the sixteen-team Big East can have a six-person team, does the Pac-10 really need to have ten players?
SEC All-Conference Team
- Scotty Hopson- Guard- Tennessee
- Brandon Knight- Guard- Kentucky
- John Jenkins- Guard- Vanderbilt
- Chris Warren- Guard- Ole Miss
- JaMychal Green- Forward- Alabama
- Terrence Jones- Forward- Kentucky
- Chandler Parsons- Forward- Florida
- Trey Thompkins- Forward- Georgia
Player of the Year- Chandler Parsons- Forward- Florida
Coach of the Year- Billy Donovan- Florida
Freshman of the Year- Terrence Jones- Kentucky
Quick Thoughts. It is possible that Donovan won coach of the year due to the Gators taking the outright SEC title after a few years of struggling, but a strong case could be made for Alabama’s Anthony Grant and Georgia’s Mark Fox, both of whom pretty much inherited nothing and are on the verge of taking their respective teams to the NCAA Tournament in only their second seasons. The freshman of the year award could have easily gone to Brandon Knight, but Jones is not a poor selection either. No real problems here, other than the amount of players on the team again.
Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team
- Kevin Anderson- Guard- Richmond
- Tu Holloway- Guard- Xavier
- Lavoy Allen- Forward- Temple
- Justin Harper- Forward- Temple
- Andrew Nicholson- Forward- St. Bonaventure
Player of the Year- Tu Holloway- Guard- Xavier
Coach of the Year- Chris Mack- Xavier
Freshman of the Year- TJ McConnell- Guard- Duquesne
Quick Thoughts. The only grievance with the A-10 would be that Rhode Island’s Delroy James (17.6 ppg and 7.8 rpg) could be on the first team over Temple’s Lavoy Allen (11.8 ppg and 8.2 rpg), but Temple was a much better team than Rhode Island and Allen was a major key to the Owls’ success. Can we just go ahead and cement Chris Mack’s name onto the Coach of the Year list in perpetuity?
Mountain West All-Conference Team
- Dairese Gary- Guard- New Mexico
- D.J. Gay- Guard- San Diego State
- Jimmer Fredette- Guard- BYU
- Kawhi Leonard- Forward- San Diego State
- Andy Ogide- Forward- Colorado State
Player of the Year- Jimmer Fredette- Guard- BYU
Co-Coaches of the Year- Steve Fisher (SDSU) and Dave Rose (BYU)
Freshman of the Year- Kendall Williams- Guard- New Mexico
Quick Thoughts. Great job by the MWC for acknowledging both Fisher and Rose. Both of them did a great job leading their teams to consistent top ten rankings throughout the season. Fredette being the only Cougar on the first team illustrates just how dominant he was, although we wonder if Brandon Davies’ incident caused him to lose some votes.
