For the ninth time since the regular season came to a close, Doug McDermott was given a Player of the Year award, this time from the Associated Press. The AP award has been given out annually since 1960-61, and the 64-1 voting margin that McDermott won by is the largest in the history of the award.
No player has ever won unanimously, and the voter who stood in the way of McDermott being the first was Rick Bozich — a reporter for WDRB in Louisville who voted for Louisville’s Russ Smith. “Yes, I was the one voter for Russ Smith for AP national college player of the year,” he wrote on Twitter. “Check KenPom stats. It’s the other 64 who mailed it in.” In another tweet, he continued to explain his reasoning. “So Doug McDermott won the AP player of the year by a larger margin than Walton, Jordan, Duncan, Durant, Anthony Davis? That’s silly.”
As with their All-American teams, the voting for Player of the Year ended on Selection Sunday, so that performances in the NCAA Tournament wouldn’t sway votes one way or another. When the votes were cast, Bozich didn’t know Louisville would advance further in the tourney than Creighton, so he just really honestly believed Smith was the better player over the course of the entire season. I disagree, as does every single AP voter, but at least he had the courage to own up to being the dissenting voice. I can respect that.
“There are so many great college basketball players this year,” McDermott said after being given the award, “so to be selected for this award is a huge honor. I want to thank my family for coming here today and being very supportive over the last four years. I could not have done this without my teammates back at Creighton and in Omaha. It has been a heck of a ride.”
Old frenemy Gregg Marshall of Wichita State won the AP’s Coach of the Year award, and before the press conference the two shared a cordial moment according to ESPN’s Andy Katz. Marshall’s Wichita State team entered the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated record before bowing out in the third round; he received 44 of a possible 65 votes.
“I knew Doug was going to be the player of the year much sooner than I thought I could be coach of the year,” Marshall gushed from the podium. “It was a lot of fun to watch him this year knowing that the first three years of his career we were battling head-to-head two or three times a year. It was good to see his maturity and see how his game has evolved. He has gotten so much better – skill level and athleticism. He always played hard and had a mind for the game with his dad being a great coach. But, I was really happy to see the success he had moving to the Big East this year. In some ways, in my opinion, it validated the league (The Valley). He can certainly play on any level, and he proved that this year.”
McDermott is the first Big East player to win the AP award since St. John’s Walter Berry in 1985-86, and just the third ever, along with Patrick Ewing of Georgetown in 1984-85. Current membership of the Big East has five AP Player of the Year awards, however, as DePaul’s Mark Aguirre won it in 1979-80 and Xavier’s David West won it in 2002-03.
Earlier this week, he was named a First-Team All American by the AP, becoming just the 11th player all-time to be named to the first team three times.
The Associated Press is the ninth group to honor McDermott as its National Player of the Year this season. CBSSports.com, Sporting News, USA Today, NBCSports.com, BleacherReport.com, Basketball Times and Dick Vitale previously honored him as their Player of the Year.
The Wooden Award for Player of the Year will be announced during the 11am (CST) SportsCenter on Friday, and the Naismith Award for Player of the Year will be announced at halftime of the national championship game next Monday. McDermott is a favorite for both.