Month Four Awards
Consider this a look at how an actual voting member thinks, because I are one.
As a valued1 member of the United States Basketball Writers Association, I turned in my ballots a week ago and honestly? I didn’t have to spend much time on it. What you see here is what they got there for the big boy awards.
For the shall we say stupider things, they didn’t have a category. More’s the pity, IMO. I would personally love to see John Calipari blame the media for doubting his team after they were overwhelmingly declared College Basketball’s Most Exciting Team.
(Which they would be, because hoooooo boy there is no indication I’ve seen that Kentucky ain’t content to play every game at 110-103 from here on out.)
So with that, let’s get to the Month Four Awards. This is pretty much it; I won’t go for final awards, so consider this my own personal ballot. Tie goes to the vibes.
And, because I show my work: Month One | Month Two | Month Three
Wooden Award - Zach Edey, Purdue
Feels weird to yawn at a 7-4 behemoth who has added layers and elements to his game to become a well-rounded pivot that can run, pass and defend at a high level, but: yawn. This race was over in November.
In consideration: RJ Davis, North Carolina; Dalton Knecht, Tennessee; Tristen Newton, UConn; Jamal Shead, Houston
Freshman of the Year - Reed Sheppard, Kentucky
If you check that link above from Month One, you’ll find this passage on Sheppard:
Because no one has separated themselves statistically, I’m going to take a moment to put some shine on the least-shined upon recruit for John Calipari this year.
Sheppard doesn’t have the most talent among the ‘Cats freshmen; that’s probably Justin Edwards. He’s not the best scorer; that’s DJ Wagner. He’s not the most complete player; through a month, that seems like it’s Rob Dillingham, although he’s still very much a freshman (as he showed in Sunday’s no-show loss to UNC Wilmington).
Sheppard’s just the best college basketball player. He’s where he’s supposed to be, all the time. He doesn’t do anything he can’t do. He doesn’t have to score to be impactful, but he can because he’s leading the country in three-point shooting. He probably isn’t a lockdown defender, but he is opportunistic and ranks seventh nationally with three steals per game.
And here he is, months later, putting the finishes touches on a Freshman of the Year campaign and daggers straight through Mississippi State.