Honors Court: UK's Davis Shows There is More to Game than Scoring
March 23rd, 2012 - 18:28
Prior to major awards being announced, Kentucky's Anthony Davis is expected to join Texas' Kevin Durant (2006-07) as the only freshman named national player of the year. Davis has blocked more shots by himself than the majority of NCAA Division I teams.
But Davis' scoring average is barely over half of what Durant averaged. Unless Davis goes on a scoring binge, he will post the lowest scoring average for a national player of the year since the major awards were introduced in 1955. Following are the POYs who averaged fewer than 18 points per game the season they were honored:
Player of Year School PPG Season Anthony Davis Kentucky 14.2 2011-12 Patrick Ewing Georgetown 14.6 1984-85 T.J. Ford Texas 15.0 2002-03 Ralph Sampson Virginia 15.8 1981-82 Draymond Green Michigan State 16.2 2011-12 Ralph Sampson Virginia 17.7 1980-81 Butch Lee Marquette 17.7 1977-78 Elton Brand Duke 17.7 1998-99
Davis is UK's second freshman in three years to be named conference player of the year. Following is a chronological list of "instant success" frosh named league MVP:
| Freshman MVP | Pos. | School | League | Season | MVP Year Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernard King | F | Tennessee | SEC | 1974-75 | 26.4 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 62.2 FG% |
| Harry Kelly | F | Texas Southern | SWAC | 1979-80 | 29 ppg, 7.8 rpg |
| Keith Lee | F-C | Memphis State | Metro | 1981-82 | 18.4 ppg, 11 rpg, 3.5 bpg |
| Karl Malone | F-C | Louisiana Tech | Southland | 1982-83 | 20.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 58.2 FG% |
| Wayman Tisdale | C | Oklahoma | Big Eight | 1982-83 | 24.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 58 FG% |
| Chris Jackson | G | Louisiana State | SEC | 1988-89 | 30.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.1 apg |
| Tony Dunkin | F | Coastal Carolina | Big South | 1989-90 | 18.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg |
| Gary Trent | F | Ohio University | Mid-American | 1992-93 | 19 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 65.1 FG% |
| Shareef Abdur-Rahim | F | California | Pacific-10 | 1995-96 | 21.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg |
| Ben Larson | G | Cal Poly SLO | American West | 1995-96 | 12.8 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.5 spg |
| Quentin Richardson | F | DePaul | C-USA | 1998-99 | 18.9 ppg, 10.6 rpg |
| Jason Conley | F | VMI | Southern | 2001-02 | 29.3 ppg, 8 rpg, 81.8 FT% |
| Rodney Stuckey | G | Eastern Washington | Big Sky | 2005-06 | 24.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.1 apg, 2.2 spg |
| Kevin Durant | F | Texas | Big 12 | 2006-07 | 25.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 81.6 FT% |
| Michael Beasley | F-C | Kansas State | Big 12 | 2007-08 | 26.2 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 53.2 FG% |
| Kevin Love | C | UCLA | Pacific-10 | 2007-08 | 17.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 55.9 FG% |
| CJ McCollum | G | Lehigh | Patriot League | 2009-10 | 19.1 ppg, 5 rpg, 81 FT%, 42.1 3FG%) |
| John Wall | G | Kentucky | SEC | 2009-10 | 16.6 ppg, 6.5 apg |
| Anthony Davis | C | Kentucky | SEC | 2011-12 | 14.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 4.6 bpg, 63.6 FG% |