Sept. 24, 2009
From The Sporting News
Former North Carolina center and four-time All-America Tyler Hansbrough is
Sporting News` college basketball player of the decade. Roy Williams, who
coached Hansbrough and the Tar Heels to the 2009 national title, is SN's
college basketball coach of the decade.
The honors are part of a 14-page tribute to the athletes, coaches and teams
of the 2000s in the new issue of the magazine, which arrives this week at
all Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets. SN honored one
athlete in each sport and enlisted the help of teammates, coaches and
legends to make a case for both the winner and runner-up.
Said Clemson coach Oliver Purnell of Hansbrough: "With his work ethic, he's
a great role model for young people who want to work at their game and be
the best they can be. He got a Final Four (twice) and a national
championship--and after all, it is a team sport. His relentlessness is what
stands out more than anything. We had two or three games where I thought our
guys did well against him, the frontcourt did a good job, and he just keeps
coming. He's bigger than you think, and he plays bigger than you think. He
keeps running, and he dives on the floor, and he'll take a charge--and he'll
score and get your entire front line in foul trouble. He frustrates teams.
He's just going to keep hammering."
Hansbrough was SN's player of the year in 2008. SN chose him as the player
of the decade over former Duke guard Jason Williams.
Hansbrough's pick for his favorite moment of the decade? "My favorite memory
of all time is when we won the championship--just because it was my senior
year, my last game, the perfect way to go out," Hansbrough told SN. "It was
just a great feeling. I feel like I'm always going to be criticized. I felt
like people were judging me off of one game--basically my whole career would
be a failure if I didn't win that one game. For me to establish myself as a
champion, prove to everybody that this is what I'm about, was really great.
We went out there with the mentality we were going to try to win it in the
first half, and when we came in the locker room, nobody was really satisfied
with how well we played. If we came out and played the way we can play, I
knew we were going to win."
Roy Williams won two national titles this decade, going 289-66. His team
heads into the 2009-10 season ranked fourth by SN.
"For a guy that has had the amount of success he's had, it's very obvious he
still recruits like he has not won yet," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said
of Williams. "He's one of--if not the--most visible head coaches every summer
on the recruiting scene. ... Being able to get high-quality players allows him
to coach the way he wants to, being able to have the style of play he's most
comfortable with--the pressure offense. Carolina's going to try to beat you
down the floor, and you're going to have to deal with the way they attack
you at the offensive end."
SN's college basketball all-decade team:
FIRST
G Jason Williams, Duke
G Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph's
F Kevin Durant, Texas
F Joakim Noah, Florida
C Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
SECOND
G Stephen Curry, Davidson
G Dwyane Wade, Marquette
F Shane Battier, Duke
F Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
C Emeka Okafor, Connecticut
