It’s Another Award for Augustus

Louisiana State’s Seimone Augustus was named the winner of the 2005 Naismith Trophy on Tuesday as women’s college player of the year.

Augustus, a 6-foot-1 guard, averaged 20.1 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Tigers, leading them to their second straight trip to the NCAA Final Four and a 33-3 record.

Augustus also won the United States Basketball Writers Assn. player-of-the-year award and the Associated Press player-of-the-year award this season.

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Even though junior forward Hassan Adams has made himself available for the NBA draft, Arizona Coach Lute Olson said he expects to have him back next season.... North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said he expects guard Rashad McCants to bypass his senior season for the NBA draft.... Swingman Antoine Wright plans to forgo his senior year at Texas A&M; and make himself available for the NBA draft.... Pacific’s Bob Thomason was named the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to a 27-4 record last season.

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North Carolina’s win over Illinois in the NCAA championship game was the highest-rated men’s title game since 1999.

CBS’ coverage of the Tar Heels’ 75-70 win got an overnight rating of 16.0 with a 23 share. That’s up 43% from last year’s 11.2 with a 17 share in a game involving Connecticut and Georgia Tech. It’s the best rating for an NCAA title game since Connecticut’s win over Duke in 1999 got a 16.9 with a 25 share.