Camby Named Wooden Winner

Junior center Marcus Camby of Massachusetts won the Wooden Award Thursday as college basketball’s player of the year.

The award was announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Voting was conducted by a nationwide panel of 1,000 sportswriters and broadcasters, including all 50 states.

Camby, Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan and Connecticut’s Ray Allen were named to the 10-player Wooden All-American Team last week, along with Kentucky guard Tony Delk, Cincinnati forward Danny Fortson, Georgetown guard Allen Iverson, Villanova guard Kerry Kittles, Georgia Tech guard Stephon Marbury, Kansas guard Jacque Vaughn and Utah forward Keith Van Horn.

The 6-11, 220-pound Camby already had been selected as the player of the year by the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and was named the winner of the Boost/Naismith Award as the nation’s top player.

Camby led Massachusetts to a 35-2 record and its first-ever Final Four appearance this season. He averaged 20.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in 33 games for the Minutemen.

Camby had 25 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots in Massachusetts’ 81-74 loss to Kentucky in the semifinals.

Camby missed four games this season after he collapsed just before a Jan. 14 game at St. Bonaventure. He underwent a battery of tests at Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester and doctors ruled out possible cardiac and neurological causes. Camby said he passed out because he had taken cough syrup on an empty stomach.