The STF Awards

Did you know that there’s a whole six days between the Regional Championships and the Final Four? I mean, that’s a lot of space to fill. It’s a time when highly-paid journalists dust off their templates and write soft-focus features about college athletes, detailing how they escaped their hardscrabble lives, or overcame the obvious detriments of having famous parents, whichever may apply. There’s a lot of column space to fill, and not much basketball action going on (which is why we wrote about the NIT and CBI yesterday).

But the other lazy writer trick is our favorite. That’s right, we made lists.

First Team All-STF

Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
Kevin Love, UCLA
Michael Beasley, Kansas State
D.J. Augustin, Texas
Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

(this bears a striking resemblance to every other First Team compiled by anyone with eyes and a television set, but it’s a nice jumping-off point nonetheless)

Second Team

Stephen Curry, Davidson
Derrick Rose, Memphis
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Brook Lopez, Stanford
Eric Gordon, Indiana

All-Awesome (players who might have been inconsistent, injured or one-dimensional, but we love them anyway)

Kenny George, UNC-Asheville
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
Patty Mills. Saint Mary’s
Tyrone Brazleton, Western Kentucky
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse

All Name Team

Chief Kickingstallionsims, Alabama State
Dionte Christmas, Temple
Longar Longar, Oklahoma
Gyno Pomare, San Diego
Da'Veed Dildy, Stanford

Mid-Major All-Stars

Stephen Curry, Davidson
Courtney Lee, WKU
Arizona Reid, High Point
Jason Thompson, Rider
Josh Duncan, Xavier*

*Xavier refuses to claim mid-major status any more. So pretend you didn’t see this.

Game of the Season

Western Kentucky-Drake, NCAA Tournament, Tampa
Floor Storming of the Year

William and Mary over VCU, CAA Tournament - “That Just Happened”

Most Annoying Subplot of the Season

Kelvin Sampson's Phone Scandal

The J.J. Redick Memorial Most Hated White Player of the Year

Greg Paulus, Duke (Unanimous)

Best Media Member - College Basketball

Tie between - Bill Raftery and Gus Johnson. We couldn’t decide if we liked shouting about vegetables more than being able to convincingly mimic a myocardial infarction.

Coach of the Year

Herb Sendek, Arizona State - This former ACC Coach of the Year who was run out of Raleigh for all the wrong reasons took over the Sun Devils and promptly amassed a 2-16 record with his inherited roster. Then he recruited his ass off and turned it around to the tune of 21-13, an NIT berth, and a sweep of in-state rival Arizona. Which means…

Worst Coaching Job of the Year

Kevin O'Neill, Arizona - O’Neill seemed sort of like a sympathetic figure when the season started, but that was before he pulled a reverse-alchemist and t urned gold into shit. He had at least three great players and the #1 schedule in the country, and made a mockery of a proud program. Lute won’t even let him hold the remote control during commercials any more.

Easiest Team to Root For

Baylor - To many, the Bears were just a squad that made the NCAA tournament and lost immediately in lackluster fashion. But for a school that survived the Dave Bliss administration, just putting a competitive team on the floor was a major milestone.

Biggest Disappointment

N.C. State - expected by many to build on the season-ending hot streak from 2007, the Wolfpack fell flat with a 15-16 record that denied them entry to even the NIT.

Quote of the Year

"You can't blame it on any one thing because we made a bushel of mistakes. But the difference in the game was the technical foul on our fans." Arkansas Pine-Bluff Head Coach Van Holt, whose team lost when fans stormed the floor after a tie.

Whew! That was exhausting. Back to my 359-page paper about how Kenny George will rule the NCAA next year.