Friday, March 17, 2000
UC NOTEBOOK
Huggins, Martin win national awards
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Cincinnati Bearcats nearly swept the season awards presented by The Sporting News, with Bob Huggins named national coach of the year and center Kenyon Martin voted player of the year.
The awards are determined by a vote of Division I coaches. Huggins shared his honor with Tulsa's Bill Self.
Martin earned the player award with nearly 10 times more votes than his nearest competitor. That is Martin's second major player of the year honor; he was voted the Naismith Trophy by a panel of media members and former winners.
Blizzard forecast
There is no matchup in UC's first-round game against UNC Wilmington that is more important than forward Pete Mickeal's defensive assignment to handle shooting guard Brett Blizzard.
As a freshman, Blizzard scored one-fourth of UNCW's points and hit .472 from 3-point range, which was better than he shot inside the line (.432).
“I'm sure they'll put Pete on him,” UNCW coach Jerry Wainwright said. “He'll grow up in a hurry.”
Out of the Woods
The official notification that Arizona center Loren Woods will not play during the tournament did not stir up any more ill feelings about the Bearcats regarding their No.2 seed.
Arizona, 26-6 during the regular season, was awarded the No.1 seed in the West Regional despite a 4-2 record without Woods in the lineup. The committee knew at the time Woods was unlikely to play because of a back injury.
“I don't concern myself with what other teams are doing,” Mickeal said.
Candid Huggins
Huggins was a little more relaxed than he often is during pre-tournament press conferences, which he attributes to the fact no one asked him a question that ticked him off.
He made several notable statements Thursday.
• On whether he has become a sympathetic figure because of the season-ending injury to Martin: “I don't think there's any question people feel bad about Kenyon. They're very sympathetic to Kenyon. I don't know if that automatically translates over to me.”
• On his players' image: “It's amazing to me how our guys go up there and they're probably the most well-spoken guys in the tournament, and everybody thinks we have idiots.”
• On whether UC would use the apparent disrespect for the “other” Bearcats as motivation: “If you get to the NCAA Tournament and you need motivation, there's something wrong with you.”
Tournament game coverage at Cincinnati.com/madness
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