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John Wall was named the NCAA College Basketball Player of the Year by the Sporting News. Many fans had debated if he or teammate DeMarcus Cousins would win the award, but Wall ultimately won out. The other members of the first team announced by The Sporting News were Derrick Favors of Georgia Tech, Derrick Williams of Arizona, Xavier Henry of Kansas, and DeMarcus Cousins. Second team players were Elias Harris of Gonzaga, alec Burks of Colorado, C.J. McCollum of LeHigh, Kawhi Leonard of SDSU, and Hassan Whiteside of Marshall.

Of the frosh on the Sporting News first team, all but Derrick Williams are projected to be first round picks if they choose to go pro in the 2010 NBA draft.

This is the second straight year that one of Coach John Calipari’s players have won the award, with NBA sensation Tyreke Evans willing the award last year and being a first round lottery pick in the 2009 NBA draft.

The 30 finalists for the 2010 Naismith trophy were announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club today. The mid-season candidates are chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors that are made up of basketball journalists from around the United States. Included in the listing were Kentucky’s John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, Jay Hawk Cole Aldrich along with Sherron Collins, and Georgetown’s Greg Monroe. The Naismith Trophy is awarded by AT&T to the college basketball player of the year. The 2010 Naismith Award will be presented at the 2010 NCAA Final Four.

Fans Get a Say in the 2010 Naismith Trophy Winner This Year

On March 22nd, wireless phone customers will be able to text their votes for the 2010 Naismith Trophy winner until 11:59 PM EST on Saturday, 3 April 2010. You do not have to have AT&T to vote, but your wireless carrier must agree to allow voting for the award through your wireless network if you use a different company.

Is It John Wall’s Award to Lose?

It depends on who you talk to. You can’t dispute Evan Turner’s impact on Ohio State this season, Scottie Reynolds play at Villanova, James Anderson leading the way in the Big 12 in scoring, or Grevis Vasquez’s numbers at Maryland this season. Wall compares in all around numbers and has shown the speed and talent that make him the consensus prediction for the #1 pick in the 2010 NBA. If the voters take into account an individuals impact on overall team performance, Wall may get the nod for leading Kentucky to a 26-1 start at the time of this writing after being an NIT team last season. Sure there are 2-3 other players on the team who will be in the NBA within the next year+, but he is the floor general and has not disappointed this season. There’s a lot of basketball to be played before the voting starts, so a lot may be determined on how the front-runners for the award perform over the remainder of the regular season and in their respective conference tournaments. Performance in the NCAA tournament has not played a huge difference in the past, but with the fan vote this year, how a player performs in the 2010 NCAA tournament very well could prove to be the difference.

The mid-season 30 Naismith Award Finalists announced were:

Cole Aldrich, Kansas
Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
James Anderson, Oklahoma State
Luke Babbitt, Nevada
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga
Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia
Sherron Collins, Kansas
DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
Devan Downey, South Carolina
Jerome Dyson, UConn
Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Gordon Hayward, Butler
Robbie Hummel, Purdue
Damion James, Texas
Wesley Johnson, Syracuse
Dominique Jones, South Florida
Sylven Landesberg, Virginia
Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech
Kalin Lucas, Michigan State
Greg Monroe, Georgetown
Jacob Pullen, Kansas State
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova
Omar Samhan, Saint Mary’s
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Evan Turner, Ohio State
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
John Wall, Kentucky

I have to admit, I thought Patrick Patterson would go pro in the 2009 NBA draft when he started being projected to be a first round pick. He stayed in college for one more year to finish his degree and spend a year under new Kentucky Coach, John Calipari’s tutelage to help enhance his “away from the rim” skills. Patterson may see his overall numbers dip a bit now that the Wildcats have a few more options than have Jodie Meeks shoot the 3ball and Patterson shoot it inside, but he enters the 2009-10 season as one of the best inside-men in college basketball. The defending champion North Carolina Tar Heels, however, have Ed Davis coming back to help lead their national title defense. Two freshmen make my “top ten ” of power forwards based on their pedigrees entering their freshman seasons: Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins, and Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors. Yes, Cousins would be labeled a center at most colleges, but don’t be surprised to see him listed as a second PF on the lineup. Favors will get more touches at Tech, and look out for these two highly touted Frosh.

Top 10 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forwards

#1 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward - Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

Now that Kentucky has two big time post players to complement Patrick Patterson in DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton, we’ll finally get a chance to see what Patterson can do this season. Not that his 17.9 points per game last season were any small effort, but by making Patterson free to not have to guard the opposing center every game, Patterson could quickly become one of the Naismith Player of the year candidates this season at Kentucky. Expect to see him go high in the 2010 NBA draft.
#2 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Ed Davis, North Carolina
For the Tar Heels to have a decent shot at defending their 2009 NCAA Tournament title, Ed Davis will need to have a huge year. He’s capable of doing so, and now that he’ll be one of the primary focuses of the North Caroline offense, regular double-doubles out of Davis may become the norm when watching the Tar Heels play this season.

#3 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
It was surprising to see both Aminu and Patterson pass up a chance to go to the NBA in the 2009 draft. WIth Aminu returning for another season at Wake, expect to see his numbers increase and for Wake Forest to be in the thick of the ACC race.
#4 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Devin Ebanks, West Virginia

Devin Ebanks really started to grow-up as a basketball player last season at West Virginia. Over the last third of the Mountaineers season, he averaged more than 10 rebounds a game. He’ll be playing a key role in West Virginia’s Big East title hopes this season.
#5 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Craig Brackins, Iowa State
Craig Brackins has continued to increase his scoring and rebounding production over the past two seasons. Now he just needs to show he can help his team win more ball games this coming season.
#6 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
One of two incoming frosh on my top ten. It was a toss-up to me on whether to list Favors or Cousins in this spot, but since Favors figures to get more touches on offense, at first glance it apears as though his numbers will be higher this season than Cousins.

#7 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
If you keep up with Kentucky basketball news, then you’ll know that Coach Cal has nothing but great things to say about Cousin’s inside game. Since it doesn’t seem to be “en vogue” to be listed as a center now-a-days if you’re under 7′ tall, expect to see Cousins listed as a second PF on Kentucky’s roster this season next to Patterson in the starting lineup.

#8 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Trevor Booker, Clemson

If Clemson can reliably get him the ball game in and game out, we’ll see a huge season out of Booker this year in the ACC.

#9 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Lance Thomas, Duke
I know, if you’re not a Duke fan you might be like ? Well, Lance Thomas didn’t crack the 6 ppg mark last season, but he nailed over 60% of his field goals and now that he’s entering his senior year, he’s primed to have a big season for the Blue Devils at the PF position.

#10 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Lazar Hayward, Marquette
Hayware averaged 16.3 points per game last season without ever really being the primary focus for the offense. Expect a big year from him this season.

Close to Making my list:

Renardo Sidney, Mississippi State - If we ever get to see him play alongside Vernado, then he enters the top 10 somewhere near Favors and Cousins….but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Daniel Orton, Kentucky – Its just not right to list 3 bigs from the same team. I don’t see Cal getting all three of his premiere bigs enough touches this season to list Orton, Cousins, and Patterson on the same list. It won’t surprise me, however, to see some big games out of Orton this season.