WELL DONE TJ!! 8) 8) Texas sophomore T.J. Ford and Connecticut junior Diana Taurasi won the Naismith Awards on Monday as the top college basketball players in the country. Ford, a 5-foot-10 guard, leads the Longhorns in scoring (15), assists (7.4), and steals (1.96) per game. Last year, he was the first freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in assists with 8.27 per game. He ranks second on Texas' all-time career assist list with 495. "My teammates should share in this honor, as none of our program's success would be possible without them,'' Ford said. "This honor means a lot to me. When I took a look at the list of names who have won the award in the past, I was humbled. It does show that hard work pays off.'' Taurasi, a 6-foot guard, leads the Huskies with 16.5 points, 4.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game this season. She is 12th on UConn's all-time scoring list with 1,452 points. The Naismith Awards, in their 35th year, honor basketball's inventor -- Dr. James Naismith. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Past winners include Michael Jordan (1984), Larry Johnson (1991) and Tim Duncan (1997).
Ford is absolutely amazing and can take over and control the game. i think he definetely deserved it.
i think ford should of won but he had heavy competion from wade and david west and also i think hollis pricce had a great year too.
If the voting was held later on in the season I would have to go with Dwayne Wade. He's been unstoppable in the tournament. For the regular season I would have choosen Josh Howard of Wake Forest over TJ Ford. TJ is a great floor general and has the Texans winning. But I think Josh Howard plays in a tougher division and has the complete package. He can score inside and outside, plays defense, and is a monster on the glass. He reminds of Drew Gooden, and he will be a great pro.
the ACC was pretty weak this year shape, Ford played in a much better conference...the ACC will re-assert itself next year though
Josh Howard - 19.5 8.3 TJ Ford - 15.0 7.4 I wouldn't call the ACC a weak conference. They only had 1 team under the .500 mark. Both conferences are tough and of course TJ is deserving, but I think Howard is a better player.
im just saying the ACC was weak this year. all u need to do is look at the teams left in the tournament...texas, okla, and kansas all made it to the elite eight for the Big 12, only duke and maryland made it to the sweet sixteen for the ACC. also in the Big 12 there was only 2 teams with records below .500 and the Big 12 has 12 teams compared to the ACC which only has 9. Josh Howard had no competition in the ACC, Duke and Maryland were probably the only teams that had someone that could guard him well. While TJ Ford had to go against Kirk Heinrich, Hollis Price, and Ricky Paulding just to name a few.
