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Cincinnati sweep Martin, Huggins snare Conference USA honors
Posted: Wednesday March 08, 2000 03:26 PM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Kenyon Martin wanted to improve his game and the Cincinnati Bearcats by returning for his senior season. Coach Bob Huggins told Martin he could do just that by scoring more points. It worked to perfection for No. 1 Cincinnati, and Conference USA rewarded the duo by unanimously picking Martin as its player of the year on Wednesday with Huggins its top coach for a third straight season. Martin had been the first player ever to win the player of the week award six times in a season, and Cincinnati set a regular season record with 28 victories. The Bearcats also turned in the first undefeated record in conference play at 16-0. Martin, who led the league in scoring with 19.5 points a game, said it wasn't easy for him to start shooting more. He preferred sharing the ball, passing whenever he felt pressure. "Coach told me that coming into this year I couldn't average 10 points if we wanted to win," Martin said. "I didn't know it was going to be like this. I had no clue." The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Martin also led the league in rebounding (10 a game), field goal percentage (57 percent) and blocked shots (3.57). He is the all-time blocked shots leader for both Cincinnati and Conference USA with 292, and he set the single-season mark with 107 this year. Martin credits his performance at last summer's World University Games when he led the U.S. team in scoring with giving him a boost of confidence. "I used to avoid getting fouled. Now if I don't get fouled, I get upset because I want to get to the line," Martin said. He becomes the second Bearcat in the league's five-year history to win player of the year. Danny Fortson also won the honor in both 1996 and 1997. Coach of the year honors keep piling up for Huggins. He now has won that honor 10 times in his 19-year coaching career, including the past three seasons in Conference USA. "When you have guys like Denny Crum in the league, a basketball Hall of Famer and has done so much over the years, I think it's a tremendous honor. I feel very fortunate to be able to be the coach of the year in the league," Huggins said. But Huggins credited his players with winning him the honor. "These guys have been the best guys that I've coached as far as listening and trying to do what we tell them to do. It starts at the top with Kenyon and Pete [Mickeal]," he said.
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