Best player: Sean May. He led the tournament in points and rebounds
and was the fi rst to do so since Danny Manning more than a decade ago. And we all know how much Manning ruled. Too bad May will be a dud in
the NBA. But this is about college, so who cares?
Best game: West Virginia vs. Louisville. A shooting performance that would have only been complete if Stonewall Jackson rose from his grave, and the Cardinals also managed to stage a comeback the immortal Rick Pitino found hard to describe.
Choke job: Luther Head. How could you come up short with such a cool name? The Illini guard heaved up two threes - both of which were unbelievably uncontested - in the waning seconds of the championship game only to hear clanks reverberate throughout St. Louis. Luther, where was your head?
Most clutch performance: Rashad McCants. McCants played for the first time in three weeks in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament after having an intestinal disorder that rendered him practically immobile. He's got game and because of him, UNC had it, too.
Worst mascot: The West Virginia Mountaineer. The Mountaineers had quite possibly the most awful mascot of all time. The gun-toting Mountaineer was not burly, nor was he hairy. And now that I think about it, he wasn't wearing plaid either. What a tool.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
by Phil Parker
Daily Lobo
Best player: Deron Williams. Williams was
runnin' and gunnin' with fantastic opposing guards - most notably against Louisville - and out-classed them all. He was clutch at both ends of the fl oor throughout the tourney, and the championship never seemed over simply because he was still in the game and can hit from anywhere.
Best game: Illinois over Arizona. Lordy, what a game. Comebacks like that just don't happen, but there it was. Forget the fouls that weren't called or the choke jobs by Lute Olson and Salim Stoudamire. Just remember the exhilaration of that fantastic fi nish.
Biggest choke: James Augustine. The junior choked like Beavis on a chicken bone. He went from doubledouble man to Darko Milicic in one brutal performance. He picked up one stupid foul after another and fouled out with zero points in the biggest game of his life.
Most clutch performance: Mike "The Man" Gansey. The pundits punching Wake Forest's Final Four bus ticket never saw him coming. Gansey was
amazing in West Virginia's scintillating double-overtime win against Wake. He bombed from everywhere and fi nished with a game-high 29 points in 44 minutes of action.
Best mascot: Ashley Judd, Kentucky. Tough to argue against an incredibly old-looking Bill Murray, who stole the show in the crowd during that amazing Illinois comeback, but come on, CBS must have shown Judd cheering 50 times, and it never got old.
