Evan Turner Surges Into Lead for Hypothetical Player of the Year Award
When I did my primer on the college hoops season for football fans, I mentioned the emerging school of thought that DeMarcus Cousins -- not John Wall -- might be Kentucky’s most important player. It would appear that, in the process of that happening, Ohio State’s Evan Turner has seized an opportunity to jump ahead in the National Player of the Year voting. (By the way, Turner put up 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists -- leading the Buckeyes in all categories -- in the three-point loss to Purdue on Wednesday.)
↵↵Michael Rothstein of AnnArbor.com has been doing the legwork, so all credit goes to him. He has been checking in with 49 panelists who have player of the year votes, getting an idea of how the race will shake out this year. While John Wall led the first two ballots that were released, Turner has moved ahead with 110 points and 30 first-place votes, to Wall’s 97 points/13 first-place votes. If these 49 respondents are any indicator, this is truly a two-horse race, because the next closest player is Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds, with just two first place votes and a total of 29 points.↵
↵↵If anything surprises me, it’s the lack of support for Cousins. Perhaps it’s that he hasn’t put together the complete season from start to finish that Wall has, but Cousins has 12 double-doubles in his last 15 contests. ↵
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↵The third-place voting gives me a chuckle. It seems like a few folks are filling out their ballot saying "OK, Turner and Wall ... and who's a local guy I can promote?" That's the only possible explanation for names like Artsiom Parakhouski, Landry Fields and James Anderson. Also incredibly dubious: the voter who thinks Damion James is the nation's second-best player. Texas is in an absolute tailspin, so at best, he shouldn't get more than the fleeting third-place consideration that Luke Harangody gets.↵
↵↵My ballot would look something like this: 1. Evan Turner, 2. John Wall, 3. ... Um, can I split it between Reynolds/Johnson/Cousins? (Yes, I’m totally chickening out.) If you’re interested, our Mike DeCourcy seems to have it as Turner-Wall-Reynolds for the moment.↵
↵↵For the full breakdown of the voting, head over to AnnArbor.com.↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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