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AP: Anderson named Big 12 Player of the Year
Published 3/9/2010 in None
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The preseason discussion of best players in the Big 12 started with the Kansas duo of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich. Damion James of Texas was in there, too, along with the Kansas State guard tandem of Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen, and Iowa State's Craig Brackins.
As the season progressed, a player who was not in the initial conversation moved ahead of the rest: Oklahoma State's James Anderson.
Shooting his way past more heralded players in the conference, the unassuming, high-scoring junior was named The Associated Press Big 12 player of the year on Monday.
"I don't know if before the season he was the leading candidate," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. "I thought he should be mentioned. But those other guys are great players, great people, have great reputations. I think it's a true case that he played himself into being player of the year. He earned player of the year."
Anderson received 13 votes from a panel of sports writers and sportscasters who cover the conference to become the second Oklahoma State player to earn the award, joining John Lucas in 2004. Collins received two votes and Aldrich one.
Anderson also was a unanimous selection to the Big 12 first team, joining Collins, Aldrich, Pullen and James. Baylor junior forward Ekpe Udoh, a transfer from Michigan, was named newcomer of the year and Colorado guard Alec Burks is the freshman of the year.
Anderson stood out with consistency and multiplicity.
He led the Big 12 in scoring with 22.9 points per game and bumped it up to 24.1 points in the Big 12, fifth-best in conference history. Anderson scored at least 20 points in every conference game and had five 30-point games.
More than the scoring, Anderson led the Cowboys through a difficult Big 12 conference and to a possible NCAA tournament berth by doing whatever it took to win. If it meant scoring 30 points, Anderson could certainly do that, but he was just as willing to defer to his teammates, focus on rebounding or guard the opponent's best player if that's what his team needed.
"He shoots it from the perimeter, he scores off the dribble, he gets to the foul line, he rebounds, he handles the ball, he defends — I don't know what else you can do in a game," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "He impacts a game in a high way. He's elevated Oklahoma State as a program."
Udoh helped take Baylor from a spot in the NIT championship game last year to legitimate contender for an NCAA tournament berth this season.
The athletic, 6-foot-10 junior was a dominating force on defense, setting a Big 12 single-season record with 123 blocked shots, including 57 in conference, another record. Udoh showed an impressive game around the basket, averaging 13.4 points per game, and was second in the Big 12 with 9.8 rebounds per game.
"The impact you see, No. 1, is defense and I think that is attributed to him," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. "It's contagious to all of those guys. But No. 2, the impact he can have on the game on the offensive end because of his skill and ability to score."
Burks had no trouble making the transition to college ball. The heralded high school player from Grandview, Mo., led Big 12 freshmen in scoring with 16.8 points per game — seventh-best nationally — and led the conference in field goal shooting at 53 percent.
"Coming in, I believe in my heart he was as talented as any high school player coming out," Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "But you never know how he's going to react when the lights are turned on the ball's thrown up. From the opening tip of the first game of the year, Alec embraced those moments."
Anderson took a similar approach to the lack of attention he got before the season. He's quiet by nature and tries to avoid the spotlight whenever he can, sometimes avoiding postgame interviews after he's had a big game. But to not be included in the conversation of best players in the Big 12, well, Anderson wasn't going to stand for that."
"It was a lot of motivation, just to show everybody that I was one of the top players in the Big 12 and the country," Anderson said. "I just tried to do that and help our team win at the same time. I just tried to do whatever I could to make our team better."
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