Who’s the Best of the Best? It’s a Tossup

By this time most seasons, you can pretty much announce the name of college basketball’s player of the year without even opening the envelope.

But there is no consensus this season, with names still being shuffled on the nominee lists and the Wooden Award folks scrambling to advise the television people which campuses they should visit to gather footage for the April 2 awards show.

As for this season’s winner, Duke’s Elton Brand and Connecticut’s Richard Hamilton were early favorites, and lately there has been something of a groundswell for Utah’s Andre Miller.

Here’s a look at each of the 10 finalists for the Associated Press award, since the Wooden Award finalists have not yet been selected:

* ELTON BRAND, DUKE

Why he should win: He’s the best player on the best team, makes 62% of his shots and almost averages a double-double--17 points and more than nine rebounds a game.

Why not: Because he sometimes blends into the stellar surrounding cast, and guard Trajan Langdon is actually the team’s leading scorer by a fraction. Plus, he’s only a sophomore.

* MATEEN CLEAVES, MICHIGAN STATE

Why: Pros liked his flashy game last summer, and he’s the point guard for a team that has won 12 in a row in the Big Ten.

Why not: Nobody can forget he went five for 32 against Connecticut and Duke, and scores only 12 points a game.

* EVAN ESCHMEYER, NORTHWESTERN

Why: After an injury-plagued career, the smooth big man in his sixth year has given the Wildcats a shot at making history by reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time.

Why not: Unwritten rule: The player of the year has to play in the NCAA tournament, and the Wildcats are hardly a lock.

* STEVE FRANCIS, MARYLAND

Why: He made the biggest early season splash of any newcomer as a junior college transfer, spurred Maryland to a heady ranking with his explosive game and had NBA scouts sizing him up for a uniform.

Why not: He has faded some as the season has gone on, including single-digit scoring in two Atlantic Coast Conference games.

* RICHARD HAMILTON, CONNECTICUT

Why: He’s the most dynamic, versatile scorer in the country, deadly on the run, and can make the three-point shot or slash his way to the rim.

Why not: A thigh bruise has set him back, and Connecticut might fizzle without ever regaining its terrific midseason form.

* TRAJAN LANGDON, DUKE

Why: Leading scorer on nation’s dominant team. Shoots 45% from three-point range and 85% from the line.

Why not: Because he has slumped at times, and because Brand is better.

* ANDRE MILLER, UTAH

Why: Because he’s a point guard who shoots 51%, an extraordinary stat. Because he’s the Utes’ leading scorer and assist man and second leading rebounder. Because he makes Utah win, whatever the circumstances.

Why not: Because Jason Terry is more eye catching.

* CHRIS PORTER, AUBURN

Why: Another junior college transfer who came out of nowhere and brought the Tigers along, helping them to a 25-1 record. Leading scorer and rebounder and averages more than two steals a game.

Why not: He gets demerits for his three-game suspension for an undisclosed team rules violation, and not enough people have seen him play.

* WALLY SZCZERBIAK, MIAMI (OHIO)

Why: Because he’s among the nation’s top five in scoring, at 24 points a game. Because he’s going to be a very good and very popular NBA player, with his combination of shooting, size, driving ability, and--someone else said it first--good looks. Because he’d win if he played for Duke.

Why not: Because the player of the year can’t play for Miami of Ohio.

* JASON TERRY, ARIZONA

Why: Because he surprised us all, going from sixth man to almost unstoppable scoring star, averaging 22 points and pulling the Wildcats along behind him.

Why not: Because no one’s used to thinking of him as a player-of-the-year candidate.

The pick: Brand, by sheer force of Duke’s dominance, unless Miller or Hamilton somehow takes his team further.

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR THAT WEREN’T

The pickings might seem less than they should be, or at least the candidates less obvious.

There’s a reason: You could stock a first-team and second-team All-American squad with the players who left early for the NBA the last few years who otherwise would still be eligible.

Here are 10: Mike Bibby, Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Larry Hughes, Antawn Jamison (1998 player of the year), Stephon Marbury, Ron Mercer, Paul Pierce, Tim Thomas and Jason Williams.

Q AND A

DePaul’s Quentin Richardson, just plain “Q” to his coach and teammates, is the answer to the question: “Who is the nation’s best freshman?”

Some other player will be the best NBA player out of this class.

Some other player--such as, say, Duke’s Corey Maggette--will eventually be a college player of the year. Especially because, like Saint Louis’ Hughes before him, it’s not clear Richardson will even stay for his sophomore year.

But you can’t argue with what Richardson has done: He is the leading freshman scorer (20.2 points) and rebounder (11.8) in the nation and has 13 double-doubles.

More impressive: He leads all players in offensive rebounds with 6.8 a game and is second in rebounding overall, trailing only Dartmouth’s Ian McGinnis (12.3).

By the way, he’s about 6 feet 5.

“When I was in fifth grade, I couldn’t jump and wasn’t very athletic, so my coach taught me how to work and get position,” said Richardson, one of three talented Chicago-area freshmen who stayed home to help revive DePaul’s program. “Then about my sophomore or junior year in high school, I became more of a leaper.”

He jumps highest on the offensive end.

“You’re playing with talented guys once you get to college,” he said. “You’re not usually the best like in high school, and there aren’t enough balls to go around. The easiest way to get the ball is to go get it yourself.”

FEBRUARY FADE

Cincinnati has taken a tumble, losing three of four after a 21-1 start that included a victory over Duke--the only game the Blue Devils have lost.

There were even a few days when the Bearcats had a reasonable claim to No. 1 after Connecticut lost to Syracuse and before Duke was anointed.

But then DePaul started the trouble. Marquette beat Cincinnati next. Then Saint Louis. All on the road, inciting the crowd to rush the court.

“I’m so tired of trying to fight my way off the floor,” Cincinnati assistant coach Rod Baker said. “After all four of our losses this year, it’s been a battle.”

Turnovers were a major problem.

“We go down and turn ball over nine of 13 times [against Saint Louis],” Coach Bob Huggins said. “You can’t score if you can’t get to the rim. We throw four passes kind of like a kid on Lake Michigan, skipping those rocks across the pond.”

Huggins blames success, in part.

“As we won more and more games, we got more and more careless with the basketball. Probably guys started trying to do more than they’re capable of doing.

“We have a little success, and guys start believing they can do more things than they can. The whole thing snowballs. It certainly snowballed on us.”

QUICK SHOTS

Princeton got its comeuppance three days after its wild 27-point comeback against Pennsylvania, losing in double overtime to Yale, one of the lowest-rated teams in Division I, with a 4-17 record. “We don’t want to attribute things to a letdown,” Princeton Coach Bill Carmody said. “But everybody came up to me all week and said, ‘How do you avoid a letdown?’ So maybe there is something to that.” Arizona Coach Lute Olson never mentioned the Big Ten by name, but he didn’t have to: “There’s talk about some leagues getting eight teams [in the NCAA tournament],” he said. “They could check on how leagues have done in the NCAA playoffs the last couple of years. That should have some weight.” Last season, five Big Ten teams made the tournament, and three lost in the second round while two made it to the Sweet 16. Four Pacific 10 teams made it, and all four made the Sweet 16, including Stanford, which went to the Final Four, and Arizona, which made the final eight.

Schea Cotton is expected to miss the rest of Long Beach City College’s regular season because of a thigh bruise, but probably will return for the playoffs. He has averaged almost 26 points and six rebounds and was shooting 54.5.% from the field and 79.8% from the line. He is being recruited by USC, South Florida, Rhode Island and Oregon State, among others. . . . Stanford’s Sixth Man Club has sent a letter of apology to Connecticut’s Khalid El-Amin for taunting him about his two children. El-Amin is married to the mother of his second child. . . . John Thompson, who stepped down as Georgetown’s coach for personal reasons earlier this season, will host a one-hour daily show on Washington’s WTEM-AM sports talk radio during the NCAA tournament. The topics are expected to be wide-ranging, as usual.