http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-naismithawards&prov=ap&type=lgns Wow, TJ Ford taking the Neismith award as a sophomore? I don't know how rare that is, especially with so many players jumping ship early nowadays. But, I can't remember who may have done it last. Too bad college b-ball doesn't have a heisman-type trophy, with all the prestige, if you want to call it that, going to one guy on one major award. Props to you, TJ. Take the floor on Friday and Sunday, and show America you deserve it on national TV.
Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson won the award 3 years in a row. Therefore they were winners as sophomores.
Walton would have won the award four times if freshman were allowed to play back then. Possibly the greatest college basketball player ever
I don't know about the first part--wouldn't Kareem (Lew) had been a senior to Walton as a fresh. Walton might have been a better college player by the end of his career and a good match for him even then--but I doubt he was better.
At least the Naismith seems to be a true "MVP" type of award. If it were a statiscal award, then TJ wouldn't have really come close. Congrats to TJ.
Here's the list guys...Pretty impressive company...Congrats TJ... Naismith Male College Players of the Year 1969, Lew Alcindor (UCLA); 1970, Pete Maravich (LSU); 1971, Austin Carr (Notre Dame); 1972, Bill Walton (UCLA); 1973, Bill Walton (UCLA); 1974 Bill Walton (UCLA); 1975, David Thompson (N.C. State); 1976, Scott May (Indiana); 1977, Marques Johnson (UCLA); 1978, Butch Lee (Marquette); 1979, Larry Bird (Indiana State); 1980, Mark Aguirre (DePaul); 1981, Ralph Sampson (Virginia); 1982, Ralph Sampson (Virginia); 1983, Ralph Sampson (Virginia); 1984, Michael Jordan (North Carolina); 1985, Patrick Ewing (Georgetown); 1986, Johnny Dawkins (Duke); 1987, David Robinson (Navy); 1988, Danny Manning (Kansas); 1989, Danny Ferry (Duke); 1990, Lionel Simmons (LaSalle); 1991, Larry Johnson (UNLV); 1992, Christian Laettner (Duke); 1993, Calbert Cheaney (Indiana); 1994, Glenn Robinson (Purdue); 1995, Joe Smith (Maryland); 1996, Marcus Camby (UMass); 1997, Tim Duncan (Wake Forest); 1998, Antawn Jamison (North Carolina); 1999, Elton Brand (Duke); 2000, Kenyon Martin (Cincinnati); 2001, Shane Battier (Duke); 2002, Jason Williams (Duke); 2003, T.J. Ford (TEXAS).
Not in any way to take away the significance of winning the award, period, but the significance of winning it as an underclassmen is rapidly becoming less of a big deal as fewer and fewer of the top candidates remain beyond 2 or 3 years, if that, and the fact that it is standard procedure now for 2 or 3 of the top 5 of each class to skip college altogether...Would TJ have won if Jay Williams and Drew Gooden had stayed? But would they have won if guys beofre them had stayed, etc. etc....But I'm not coming down on a Texas guy in a Texas sight...My momma didn't raise no fool...
Ehh, I'll go out on a limb and say Carmelo Anthony. He's no doubt the best freshman, and I honestly think he will be better than LeBron. But he never really "led" his team. The entire Orangemen team led themselves. So, T.J. will no doubt win it.
I agree that it's probably a lot easier now than in the past for a soph to win the award. I guess for some reason, it still didn't seem like it would happen that frequently, and that the seniors that stuck around are typically still the front runners for the award. Anyway, with all the candidates out there, from price, collison and heinrich in the big 12, to 'melo, dwayne wade and the zona players, i think it's a pretty remarkable achievement. (Duh!)
