2009 TGS ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
BLAKE GRIFFIN, 6-10 Sophomore, Oklahoma
TYLER HANSBROUGH, 6-9 Senior, North Carolina
HASHEEM THABEET, 7-3 Junior, Connecticut
DeJUAN BLAIR, 6-7 Sophomore, Pittsburgh
MARCUS THORNTON, 6-4 Senior, LSU
JODIE MEEKS, 6-4 Junior, Kentucky
TONEY DOUGLAS, 6-1 Senior, Florida State
TY LAWSON, 5-11 Junior, North Carolina
STEPHEN CURRY, 6-3 Junior, Davidson
TYREKE EVANS, 6-5 Freshman, Memphis
Although some of the highest-profile players in the country this season were frontliners (such as Blake Griffin and Hansbrough), there were more impact wings and guards (1s, 2s, and 3s) than in any recent campaign we can recall. Thus, we’ve made some adjustments to our usual “two centers, four forwards, and four guards” All-American teams, which is fitting this season because so many squads utilized heretofore unorthodox combinations with three and sometimes even four guards in starting rotations. Thus, we have no problem overloading this year’s TGS All-American team with backcourt performers.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Ty Lawson, North Carolina...Not to take anything away from the accomplishments of Blake Griffin, who will likely be the top pick in June’s NBA Draft, or Tyler Hansbrough, but we’re not sure any player impacted the season more than the mercurial Lawson, whose presence (when healthy) tipped the scales in North Carolina’s favor whenever he stepped on the court. His value was underlined in the just-completed NCAA Tournament, when his recovery from a painful turf toe that kept him out of action late in the regular season (including the ACC Tournament and a first-round NCAA game vs. Radford) keyed North Carolina’s near-unprecedented romp through the Big Dance. Lawson’s ability to push the pace and get the Tar Heels moving in transition distorted contests vs. some of the best teams in the country, making UNC practically impossible to defend. True, Lawson had plenty of help in the Tar Heel lineup, but there was no “straw that stirred the drink” quite like Lawson this year.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Craig Robinson, Oregon State...No, we haven’t received any pressure from the White House to make this selection. The fact is that we’ve often gone outside of the mainstream to honor past coaches of the year, mainly because we value accomplishments relative to respective situations. And with that as our criteria, we’d rate Robinson’s job at Oregon State as one of the best in recent memory. Inheriting a moribund Beaver program that lost all 19 of its Pac-10 games (including the conference tournament) a year ago, all Robinson did in his first year was improve OSU by 7 wins in league play to earn a surprise invitation to the postseason College Basketball Invitational (CBI), which the Beavers proceeded to win by posting three straight victories to reach the best-of-three finals vs. UTEP, then knocking off the Miners in three games (including the deciding game in El Paso) to claim the trophy.
Robinson, a former star player for Pete Carril at Princeton in the early ‘80s, proceeded to introduce a modified Princeton-style attack to the Pac-10, coupled with a sticky 1-3-1 zone defense, to keep unsuspecting conference foes off balance. Along the way, Robinson “coached up” several of his charges, especially 6-11 junior C Roeland Schaftenaar, a Netherlands product who flourished in Robinson’s system, while the likes of soph Gs Calvin Haynes (a team-best 13.5 ppg after scoring only 5.5 ppg in 2007-8) and sr. Rickey Claitt (a former juco who upped his scoring from 3 ppg to 7.4 ppg, including an eye-opening 56% FG shooting) also upped their games on Robinson’s watch. This new-found success doesn’t appear to be any one-year wonder in Corvallis, either; Robinson also worked magic at previous stop Brown, which fell to the bottom of the Ivy League a year after Robinson led the Bruins into the CBI. Apparently, Robinson knows what he’s doing, and needs no help from brother-in-law Barack Obama, although that connection certainly hasn’t hurt Robinson’s ability to recruit (his early OSU signing class for next season has been rated the 22nd best in the nation by rivals.com). Now, Oregon State AD Bob DeCarolis isn’t worried about whether he made the right hire last spring; rather, he’s worried about keeping the suddenly in-demand Robinson in the OSU fold.
Honorable mention (in no particular order): Bill Self, Kansas; Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; Brad Stevens, Butler, Roy Williams, North Carolina; Herb Sendek, Arizona State; Mike Anderson, Missouri; Fran McCaffery, Siena; Jim Boylen, Utah; Jay Wright, Villanova; Lorenzo Romar, Washington; Rick Pitino, Louisville; Don Verlin, Idaho; Tom Izzo, Michigan State; Keno Davis, Providence; Jeff Lebo, Auburn; Jeff Jones, American; Kevin Broadus, Binghamton; Leonard Hamilton, Florida State; Jeff Capel, Oklahoma; Anthony Grant, Virginia Commonwealth; Dino Gaudio, Wake Forest; Steve Shields, Arkansas-Little Rock; Reggie Witherspoon, Buffalo; Blaine Taylor, Old Dominion; Bobby Braswell, CS Northridge; Buzz Williams, Marquette; Sean Miller, Xavier; Ed DeChellis, Penn State; Brian Gregory, Dayton; Travis Ford, Oklahoma State; John Calipari, Memphis; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; Mike Montgomery, Cal; Trent Johnson, LSU; Eric Reveno, Portland; Saul Phillips, North Dakota State; Ken McDonald, Western Kentucky.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Tyreke Evans, Memphis...With Memphis in a rebuilding mode following the departure of three key starters from last year’s NCAA finalist, the Tigers hit a few expected bumps in December. But Memphis’ season turned completely around when HC John Calipari moved the 6-6 frosh Evans to the PG spot, creating matchup nightmares for opponents on the defensive end and igniting the Tiger offense in the process. Evans scored nearly 17 ppg while acting as catalyst for a Memphis side that extended its hard-to-believe Conference USA win streak to 61 games and recorded 27 straight wins until being knocked off in the Sweet 16 by Missouri. Simply, no newcomer made the sort of impact this season as did Evans, who appears likely to enter the NBA Draft (where he figures as a lottery selection) after Calipari left Memphis for the Kentucky job.
