Bibby Praises Clancy

As far as Coach Henry Bibby is concerned, and after seeing every team in the Pacific 10 Conference at least once, Trojan forward Sam Clancy is the best player in the league.

“He’s the most dominating player,” Bibby said. “And other than Sam Clancy as player of the year in the Pac-10, I would name [Arizona forward Luke] Walton. If I had to pick someone other than a player on my team, I would go with Walton. I think he really makes that team go.”

Playing at the top of a 3-2 zone, Walton severely disrupted USC’s passing lanes and had a triple-double in the Wildcats’ 97-80 victory at Tucson on Jan. 17. USC plays first-place Arizona Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Clancy, meanwhile, is on a run of eight double-doubles in a row and is the Pac-10’s third-leading scorer (21.6) in conference games, trailing Stanford’s Casey Jacobsen (23.2) and Washington’s Doug Wrenn (23). Clancy is also the league’s second-leading rebounder (10.1) behind Stanford’s Curtis Borchardt (11.3).

“It’s his last go-round ... and there’s no tomorrow for Sam,” Bibby said. “He’s trying to set himself up for the [NBA] draft and get himself in position to get in the [NCAA] tournament. So he’s really working hard.”

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Senior forward David Bluthenthal is one of three recipients of the 2002 Marty Glickman Award as outstanding Jewish scholastic athlete of the year, an honor bestowed by the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Commack, N.Y.

The other Glickman award recipients are Michigan’s Hayden Epstein, a punter and kicker on the Wolverine football team, and Yale’s Sada Jacobson, the No. 1-ranked fencer in the world in the under-20 women’s sabre division.

Paul Gutierrez