The nation’s top five basketball teams each have a player nominated for All-America honors.
Finalists for the Adolph F. Rupp All-American team and Player of the Year were announced Wednesday by the Commonwealth Athletic Club.
No. 1 Stanford’s Josh Childress, averaging 15.4 points, and No. 2 St. Joseph’s Jameer Nelson, averaging 20.0, both lead their teams in points. Duke adds two finalists, with team scoring leader J.J. Redick and team assist leader Chris Duhon making the list. No. 4 Gonzaga’s Blake Stepp and No. 5 Mississippi State’s Lawrence Roberts also are being considered for the award.
The Player of the Year award will be announced April 1 at the Final Four. The selection committee is composed of a 30-member panel of sports journalists, coaches and administrators.
Other finalists include Ike Diogu (Arizona State), Andre Emmett (Texas Tech), Matt Frieje (Vanderbilt), Francisco Garcia (Louisville), Ryan Gomes (Providence), Devin Harris (Wisconsin), Julius Hodge (North Carolina State), Emeka Okafor (Connecticut), Hakim Warrick (Syracuse) and Bracey Wright (Indiana).
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Southern California juniors Derrick and Errick Craven each have received one-game suspensions for separate infractions, which occurred in the same game. The twin brothers were suspended for unsportsmanlike conduct during a game on Feb. 21 against Stanford. Errick will sit out Thursday against Oregon, while Derrick will miss Saturday’s game against Oregon State.
“In each incident, the player committed an unsporting act toward the opposing player,” Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen told The Associated Press. “The actions warranted the one-game suspension.”
The suspensions were originally given last Tuesday, and were upheld after Southern California’s appeal was reviewed Friday by the Pac-10 Compliance and Enforcement committee.
Errick is third on the team in points, averaging 10.8. The brothers are first and second on the Trojans’ assist list.
NOT HEELING: Louisiana State senior Jaime Lloreda might miss the rest of the regular season due to a nagging heel injury, Tigers coach John Brady told ESPN Radio on Saturday.
Brady says he is unsure when or if Lloreda will return from the injury. He also said he will not push Lloreda to return until he is ready.
Lloreda, Louisiana State’s leading scorer and rebounder, already has missed 11 practices and two games, including Sunday’s loss to Kentucky.
“He’s got a deep bruise on his heel and he can’t put any weight on (it),” Brady told the Shreveport (La.) Times.
The Tigers are suffering without Lloreda, who is second in the nation in rebounds and fourth in the Southeastern Conference in scoring. The team has lost the two games it has played without Lloreda and is winless in its past four games.
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: A big red bird has pitted Western Kentucky against the Italian prime minister.
Western Kentucky has filed a $250 million lawsuit against an Italian entertainment company, owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, for copyright infringement of its mascot, “Big Red.” The school claims that “Gabibbo,” an unauthorized look-alike character on a hit Italian television show, has generated revenue that rightly belongs to Big Red.
A Western Kentucky representative has presented the original 1979 mascot design. A representative for the Italian company says that Gabibbo was trademarked in Italy one year before Western Kentucky copyrighted its mascot.
“To attack and destroy Gabibbo would mean destroying the dreams of many kids,” said Gabibbo (played by Gero Caldarelli). “This is very, very bad.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
