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Player-of-the-year race is wide open Posted: Tuesday February 25, 2003 1:07 PM
In all of sports, probably no prestigious award is mocked more often than the Heisman Trophy. Yet the Heisman is unquestionably a great boon to college football -- if only because it gives people something prestigious to mock. It's too bad, then, that college hoops has no answer to the Heisman. Instead, all we Hoopheads get is a dull variety of player-of-the-year awards, with few people remembering who won and fewer still understanding who's doing the presenting. It's especially unfortunate right now, because if there were a Heisman in college hoops, this would be one of the most fascinating, wide-open races in recent memory. Throughout the ups and downs of the season, we could have been asking whether Carmelo Anthony might be the first freshman winner, or whether Luke Walton was worthy of consideration even though he missed a month with an injury. Nick Collison would have vaulted to the top of candidate lists with his 24-point, 23-rebound effort against Texas, only to be knocked from that perch a couple of weeks later by Reece Gaines once Louisville surged. Over the last two weeks, no one this side of Kobe Bryant has played better basketball than David West, but is West really more valuable to Xavier than Kyle Korver is to Creighton? To make matters worse, the committees overseeing the two best known player-of-the-year awards, the Wooden and the Naismith, foist upon their voters a list of candidates they must choose from (Anthony isn't even on the Naismith list), and they start by nominating players before the season even begins. (You think anyone would have picked Carson Palmer for the Heisman back in August?) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association gives out its Oscar Robertson Trophy, but then every newspaper writer, magazine writer and Web geek also weighs in. It's all too muddled and meaningless. For what it's worth, here's how I would rank my Hoop Heisman candidates at this very moment. (Hey, readers, what should we call our award? E-mail me with your suggestions.) 1. West, Xavier
Of course, that's just my opinion. There will be many others. Too many, unfortunately, and all too forgettable. Other Hoop ThoughtsMail CallAs expected, I received a wide range of responses to my assertion last week that Tennessee State athletic director Teresa Smith should appoint herself as head coach of the school's floundering men's basketball program. First off, let me say that my position had nothing to do with political correctness. In fact, I can't stand political correctness, which is why I was pleased that so many of you eschewed PC-ness in stating your objections. For instance, this comment from Daniel Ekerholm of Minneapolis, who actually included his name and hometown when he wrote: "Maybe women should be coaching women's basketball, but there is no place for them in men's basketball. ... Men will surely not listen to a woman screaming at them in the locker room about playing tough D and playing with heart. I am not a sexist, but I believe there are gender roles." Adds Joe from Richmond, Va., who was too chicken to include his last name: "I will agree with you that there are many women whose understanding of the game is equal to or exceeds that of many men, but no 18- to 22-year-old baller is going to listen to her rants about toughness while she points at them with manicured nails." Call these guys sexist if you like, but they reflect a viewpoint that I think is widely held, at least subconsciously, by athletic administrators across the country. The only reason this mindset exists is because no one has challenged it yet. I still say if a woman has scholarships to give, she'll find men willing to accept them. And as long as she has the power to limit someone's playing time, she'll have no trouble motivating her players. In fact, if any high school principals out there are looking for a coach, keep your eye on Amber from Kansas City, Mo., who unfortunately didn't give her last name or her school, but who is getting her degree in secondary education and social science and aspires to coach a boys' high school basketball team someday. You go, girl! A great question came from Robert Baldaci of Carmel, Calif., who wonders, "What exactly is a mid-major?" It may surprise some of you to learn that there is an actual definition of the term: The mid-major conferences are, generally speaking, the leagues ranked between 11 and 20 (out of 31) in the RPI. Based on this week's rankings, the mid-major conferences are: the WAC, the Missouri Valley, the Mid-American, the Horizon, the Sun Belt, the MAAC, the Colonial, the Big Sky, the Ohio Valley and the Southern. Sometimes, you'll see Mountain West teams (like Utah, BYU and Wyoming) listed as mid-majors, but in fact that conference is sixth in the RPI, in front of "high majors" the Pac-10, Conference USA and the Atlantic 10. Gonzaga's West Coast Conference is ranked 10th, but most people would consider that a mid-major league. A couple of readers asked whether I thought Matt Doherty was going to lose his job at North Carolina. My answer: Highly doubtful. The Tar Heels are very young and had no depth even before Sean May broke his foot. Doherty deserves the chance to see this through. The only way he will be shown the door is if one of his prized freshmen transfer out. We have a few additions to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar filmography: He was in Bruce Lee's Game of Death (thanks to Frank Kremer of Maryland Heights, Mo., and Tyler Pineo of Corinth, Maine), as well as Stephen King's The Stand (Brian Karp of Atlanta). Rashar Morgan of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, points out that Marques Johnson was in that hysterical scene in White Men Can't Jump when his character, wearing a ski mask, tries to rob a grocery store, only to have the cashier recognize his voice. Props also go out to Jon Becker of Hauppague, N.Y., who notes that former Wake Forest guard Marc Blucas (I'm sure you all remember him) has extensive acting experience, including the movie Summer Catch and the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and to Ernest of Alberta, who tells me that Chuck Connors of Boston Celtics fame starred for several years in the 1960s TV western The Rifleman. Finally, here's our weekly Radiators roll call, your favorite songs by the greatest band from New Orleans, site of the 2003 Final Four: Party Till the Money Run Out (Al Camentz, Louisville, Ky.), Never Let Your Fire Go Out (Michael Mathis, Arlington Heights, Ill.), This Wagon's Gonna Roll (Greg "Lex" Gunther, New Orleans), Like Dreamers Do (Duane Hill, Atlanta), Out On the Western Plains (Jessica Ostroff, New York), Red Dress (Joe Natiello, Westfield, N.J.), and because covers do count, Dead Flowers (Chris Forinash, Arlington, Va.). Keep writing, all you Fish Heads and Hoopheads! See you next week. Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers college basketball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Hoop Thoughts appears every Tuesday during the regular season. Davis' first book, Equinunk, Tell Your Story: My Return to Summer Camp, is available through Chandler House Press.
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