2009 College Basketball Player of The Year Predictions
Written March 13, 2009 by Jack Jones
With all of the college basketball flying around right now, it is time to start thinking about some of the individual awards that college basketball players can earn. At the top of that list is the national player of the year award. In the past it’s been won by players like Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Tim Duncan to name a few of the best. This year’s award winner will certainly be deserving of the trophy, but the winner is far from being decided.
Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) – Griffin has posted 22.1 points per game and 14.2 rebounds per game against a pretty strong conference. There was a ton of hype surrounding him coming into the season which doesn’t hurt your chances of winning the player of the year if you live up to the expectations. Right now I think Griffin has to be the favorite.
Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) – Last year’s winner and the leader of one of the best teams in the nation. Hansbrough hasn’t really slipped this year averaging 21.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. The only problem is that his numbers were better than that last year and Griffin’s numbers are better than his this year. You can certainly argue that he plays in a more competitive conference from top to bottom, but this year Hansbrough isn’t an overwhelming favorite for the award.
Hasheem Thabeet (Connecticut) – Thabeet is a freak of nature as a 7′ 3″ athletic specimen. He is a little raw on the scoring side with just 13.5 points per game, but grabs 10.5 rebounds per game and blocks 4.4 shots per game. Hasheem doesn’t have the raw numbers that the rest of the field does, but I’ve placed him on the list as one of the most impressive raw talents in the nation, and someone to look at to be a contender in the future (provided he sticks around any longer, which he should). Bet on UConn or your favorite team throughout the tournament with BetUS.
James Harden (Arizona State) - You can’t argue that Harden isn’t a prolific scorer. He’s posting 20.8 points per game, and could probably score even more on a team where he was the only source of production (which he isn’t). The biggest thing that hurts Harden is that he plays in the PAC-10, which doesn’t get much respect as far as conference power from top to bottom.
DeJuan Blair (Pitt) - Blair is the best player on a team full of really good ones. He’s pulling down 12.4 rebounds per game and chipping in 15.6 points per game. He is a beast in the paint, but will probably get overlooked as he isn’t always the go-to guy on his team.
There are plenty of other players that should get some consideration for the college basketball player of the year including Stephen Curry (Davidson), Jerel McNeal (Marquette), and Sherron Collins (Kansas).
Prediction: In all likelihood this is Blake Griffin’s award to lose, but it also wouldn’t be surprising to see Hansbrough pull down the award for the second straight year, marking the first time that has happened in over 20 years.
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- 2009-10 South Carolina College Basketball Predictions
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2 Responses to “2009 College Basketball Player of The Year Predictions”
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Blake Griffin deserves to be the Player of the Year, hands down! Besides Tyreke Evans from Memphis he is probably the biggest asset to his teams that is worthy of that title. Without Blake Oklahoma is an average team at best!
Adrian Bond
Memphis
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why isent ty lawson a canadte he should win it all
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