Dec. 16, 2009
Chapel Hill -- Four-time first-team All-America Tyler Hansbrough, who led the University of North Carolina to the 2009 national championship, and Roy Williams, the head coach of the 2005 and 2009 NCAA champions, were named the Best College Basketball Player and Coach of the Decade, respectively, by Sports Illustrated.
Of Hansbrough, SI wrote: He was not the most talented player this decade, and if some other players had stayed in college for four years, they would have likely earned this honor. Hansbrough, however, kept giving it the old college try, thrice turning down the chance to be a first-round draft pick and compiling one of the most storied careers in history. By the time he left Chapel Hill in the spring of 2009, he was the leading scorer in ACC history, the only league player to be named first team All-America four times, a Naismith and Wooden Award winner as the national player of the year, and of course an NCAA champion. Last but not least, he was a college graduate. That's a pretty good four years.
Of Williams, SI wrote: "Besides leading North Carolina to the NCAA championship in 2005 and 2009, Williams took three other teams to the Final Four: Kansas in '02 and '03, and UNC in '08."
Williams led the Jayhawks and Tar Heels to 33 NCAA Tournament wins in the decade, eight more than any other coach.
Tar Heel forward Sean May, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Final Four, was named to SI's All-Decade Team. SI picked Hansbrough as a starter on the All-Decade Team along with Duke's Jason Williams, Shane Battier and JJ Redick and Connecticut's Emeka Okafor.
May scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds to lead UNC past top-ranked Illinois in the 2005 national title game. He joins Texas's Kevin Durant, Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony, Maryland's Juan Dixon, St. Joseph's Jameer Nelson, Gonzaga's Adam Morrison and Florida's Joakim Noah on the second team.
Carolina-Duke was selected as the best team rivalry.
Chapel Hill -- Four-time first-team All-America Tyler Hansbrough, who led the University of North Carolina to the 2009 national championship, and Roy Williams, the head coach of the 2005 and 2009 NCAA champions, were named the Best College Basketball Player and Coach of the Decade, respectively, by Sports Illustrated.
Of Hansbrough, SI wrote: He was not the most talented player this decade, and if some other players had stayed in college for four years, they would have likely earned this honor. Hansbrough, however, kept giving it the old college try, thrice turning down the chance to be a first-round draft pick and compiling one of the most storied careers in history. By the time he left Chapel Hill in the spring of 2009, he was the leading scorer in ACC history, the only league player to be named first team All-America four times, a Naismith and Wooden Award winner as the national player of the year, and of course an NCAA champion. Last but not least, he was a college graduate. That's a pretty good four years.
Of Williams, SI wrote: "Besides leading North Carolina to the NCAA championship in 2005 and 2009, Williams took three other teams to the Final Four: Kansas in '02 and '03, and UNC in '08."
Williams led the Jayhawks and Tar Heels to 33 NCAA Tournament wins in the decade, eight more than any other coach.
Tar Heel forward Sean May, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Final Four, was named to SI's All-Decade Team. SI picked Hansbrough as a starter on the All-Decade Team along with Duke's Jason Williams, Shane Battier and JJ Redick and Connecticut's Emeka Okafor.
May scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds to lead UNC past top-ranked Illinois in the 2005 national title game. He joins Texas's Kevin Durant, Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony, Maryland's Juan Dixon, St. Joseph's Jameer Nelson, Gonzaga's Adam Morrison and Florida's Joakim Noah on the second team.
Carolina-Duke was selected as the best team rivalry.
