Brand Is Wooden Winner

By ROBYN NORWOOD

April 3, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Elton Brand took home the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s outstanding college basketball player Friday, calling it an honor and a privilege to win the trophy named for the legendary UCLA coach.

But the Duke sophomore couldn’t help thinking of the trophy he never got his hands on--the national championship trophy won Monday by Connecticut and standout forward Richard Hamilton, who was fifth in the Wooden voting.

“No-brainer,” Brand said when asked which he would pick between a player-of-the-year award and a national title.

“Without a doubt. Just to share the experience with your teammates. Even if I didn’t play. If I was the 13th man on the bench.”

Along with Brand, the Los Angeles Athletic Club honored Dean Smith, presenting him with its first Legends of Coaching Award.

Smith won 879 games--more than any coach in college basketball history--and reached 11 Final Fours, winning two national titles at North Carolina before retiring in 1997.

Brand’s victory was expected: He was the consensus player of the year after averaging 17.7 points and 9.8 rebounds for the 37-2 Blue Devils.

Utah guard Andre Miller, from Verbum Dei High, was a surprise runner-up.

Brand earned 4,312 points in voting by 1,000 media representatives, Miller earned 3,616, Miami of Ohio’s Wally Szczerbiak was third with 3,108 and Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves was fourth with 2,964.

Hamilton, chosen the outstanding player of the Final Four after scoring 27 points against Duke, was fifth with 2,865--but almost certainly would have finished higher if voting had not concluded March 22, the day after the regional finals.

“For me, personally, I’d take the national championship over anything,” Hamilton said. “You can always win an MVP.”

Next up for three of the five finalists--Brand, Hamilton and Cleaves--is the annual dilemma, whether to declare for the NBA draft.

Brand said he hasn’t set a timetable for his decision.

“I’m not in any rush,” he said. “It seems like everyone else is ready to make the decision.”

If Brand leaves, he’ll leave without winning a national title.

“It’d be pretty tough,” he said. “That’s your dream, to get to the Final Four--and of course to win it.”

Duke didn’t manage to do that Monday, losing, 77-74, in a game in which Brand was held to 15 points.

“I don’t think I slept that night,” he said. “We were so close. I must have run 1,000 plays through my mind, thinking what I could have done.

“When I did go to sleep, I was dreaming of winning it.”

Cleaves, a junior, told Miller he’d like to sit down and discuss the decision Miller made last season to return for his senior year.

Hamilton is considered likely to turn pro, but hasn’t addressed his future.

“I’m still living off the dream of winning the national championship,” he said.

Although Miller is from Los Angeles, he made it clear there’s only one NBA team he would like to play for in L.A., and it isn’t the Clippers. “That’s the last team I would want to play for,” he said. “If I did, hopefully I would get a chance to play.” . . . Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski is scheduled for hip-replacement surgery Monday at Duke University Hospital and didn’t travel to the Wooden Award presentation. One problem with his very public surgery date: Other patients have sought to schedule procedures for the same day and asked to be in the same ward, said Duke university spokesman Mike Cragg, adding that Krzyzewski will be registered under an assumed name because of the attention. . . . Duke associate head coach Quin Snyder is scheduled to interview for the Missouri job and is considered a front-runner for the position that opened when Norm Stewart stepped down. . . . Wooden, asked about UCLA Coach Steve Lavin’s rich extension, said, “People seem to watch to see whether I’m envious. I don’t care. . . . They don’t like me saying this, but I don’t think coaches should receive more than heads of departments, and certainly not presidents. But it’s just like the pros. If they offer it, I think they should take it. If they had offered me more than $32,500 my last year as coach, I’d have taken it.”

VOTING

Player, School: Points

Elton Brand, Duke: 4,312

Andre Miller, Utah: 3,616

Wally Szczerbiak, Miami (Ohio): 3,108

Mateen Cleaves, Michigan St.: 2,964

Richard Hamilton, Connecticut: 2,865

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

John Wooden Award Winners

Player, School: Year

Marques Johnson, UCLA: 1977

Phil Ford, N. Carolina: 1978