National Awards (Redick vs. Morrison)

Let's get through the easy awards first, becuase there's a runaway winner for both the Coach of the Year and the Freshman of the Year (hint: they're both apart of the same team).

Coach of the Year: Roy Williams - North Carolina - As if there was any doubt. As I wrote yesterday, what Williams has done this year is remarkable. North Carolina, coming off of the national championship, lost its top 7 scorers (including 4 underclassmen), and yet here they are, #2 in the ACC, and an overall record of 21-6, and a possible #2 or #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Can't ask for much more than that!

Freshman of the Year: Tyler Hansborough - North Carolina - Two Tar Heels in a row, but these guys are good. This isn't really a surprise, and quite frankly, Hansborough is the easy choice. Almost 20 points a game, over 7 wins a game, leading the surprise team in the nation, going into Duke and leading an upset of the #1 team on their Senior Night... as a true freshman. Not really much to say, other than this has been an incredible year for him. As long as he sticks around, he should be a legit Player of the Year candidate as early as next year.


Player of the Year:

Redick vs. Morrison. It's basically been debating ad nauseum, including by me here. But now, it's time to come to a conclusion.

If you can. Andy Katz's conclusion is to give it to both of them. The Courtmaster likes J.J. Redick. ESPN's experts like Redick by a 5-2 margin. SportsNation likes Adam Morrison. Let's take a closer look:

J.J. Redick: 27.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 2.7 APG, 48 FG%, 41.8 3-Point%, 88.6 FT%, 1.54 PPS
Adam Morrison: 28.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.7 APG, 50.4 FG%, 44.3 3-Point%, 78.3 FT%, 1.53 PPS

Or in other words, neck and neck. When players are this close, I think their respective careers should have a marginal effect, and there haven't been many careers better than Redick's. All-time scoring leader at Duke. All-time scoring leader in the ACC. Most 3-Pointers made in NCAA History.

The other big thing for me is the competition each has played against. The ACC is the #3 conference in RPI. The WCC is #12. Gonzaga has played the 93rd toughest schedule in the nation. Duke has played the #1 toughest schedule in the nation. This is not really Morrison's fault, but it's still a point in Redick's favor.

And for these reasons, my National Player of the Year is J.J. Redick, but only by a hair (or lack there of). Both are unbelievable players, and both are going to be a lot of fun to watch in the postseason.