By Mark Bennett
Four long months ago, it seemed the title
of Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year would be within
Kelyn Block's grasp when the 2001-02 college basketball season
ended.
Sure, the reigning Player of the Year, Illinois
State's Tarise Bryson, would have to be outdone. But Block, a
NCAA Tournament hero, seemed primed to dazzle.
A season of unpredictable injuries changed
all of that. A first-game wrist injury sidelined Bryson for the
season. And Block's year was interrupted by a seven-game absence
for knee surgery.
Now as the final six days of the regular season
wind down, it appears the MVC's top honor will go to either Creighton
forward Kyle Korver or Southern Illinois guard Kent Williams.
During the MVC's weekly teleconference on Tuesday, most of the
coaches insisted the Player of the Year should come from the
league's regular-season champion.
A victory tonight by the visiting first-place
Bluejays (18-6 overall, 13-2 in the MVC) over the host second-place
Salukis (21-6, 11-4) clinch Creighton's first back-to-back Valley
titles since a three-year run in 1941-43. And that would likely
make Korver the Player of the Year.
To the winners go the spoils.
"I think you have to look at the top
players on the Southerns and the Creightons," said Bradley
Coach Jim Molinari. "When you took Tarise out and Kelyn
Block because of his injury, that changed things, because those
two going in seemed like the frontrunners."
Block returned from a torn muscle near his
kneecap. In his second game back, he exploded for 25 points in
an overtime loss at Wichita State. But he'd been limited to averages
of 11.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game. Last year,
Block averaged 14.6 points a game.
The most eye-catching averages probably belong
to Korver 15.1 points (fourth in the MVC), 3.24 assists (fifth),
1.7 steals (first), 2.6 3-pointers (third) and a 1.6 assist-to-turnover
ratio (seventh). Williams is third in the conference in scoring
16.2 points per game, sixth in assists at 3.22, eighth in 3-pointers
(1.89 per game) and first in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.07.
But Korver has 13 conference victories. Williams
has 11. And those numbers may mean more than others while coaches
and players consider their Player of the Year votes to be calculated
after this Monday night's final games. Northern Iowa guard Robbie
Sieverding has led a Panther revival, and Drake guard Luke McDonald
is the top scorer.
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Still, Korver and Williams are mentioned most.
"I'm a firm believer in whoever wins
the league [should get the Player of the Year]," Creighton
Coach Dana Altman said. "We have a candidate in Kyle Korver,
who means a lot to our team and without him, it was obvious what
he meant to our ball club."
Korver, a 6-foot-7 swingman, struggled early
with knee problems, and so did the Bluejays. Then a midseason
operation fixed the problem and Creighton began to roll.
"If I was voting today, I'd probably
vote Korver," said Illinois State Coach Tom Richardson.
"It depends on how the conference turns out. To me, it's
two guys. It's Korver and Kent Williams."
With just three games left and a two-game
lead, Creighton would have to collapse.
Even Southern Illinois Coach Bruce Weber said,
"Kyle Korver is definitely deserving of being Player of
the Year, if not the winner, one of the top vote-getters. And
there's Kent Williams and Robbie Sieverding."
Based on performances against his Southwest
Missouri State Bears, SMS Coach Barry Hinson picks Korver right
now. "He's been an All-American playing against us,"
Hinson said. He added the names of Williams, Sieverding, Southern
Illinois' power forward Rolan Roberts and McDonald, and then
said, "and dad-gummit, if Kelyn Block [didn't] have his
injury, he'd be a candidate."
The choice seemed pretty clear to Wichita
State Coach Mark Turgeon. Korver helped Creighton edge his Shockers
69-67 on Sunday.
"Right now, it's Kyle Korver," Turgeon
said. "He deserves it."
A year ago, Bryson won the Player of the Year
without being on the regular-season champion. And Northern Iowa
Coach Greg McDermott made a pitch for Sieverding, who helped
the Panthers climb to records of 13-11 overall and 8-7 in the
MVC going into Tuesday's home game with Evansville.
"You folks [in the media] picked us last,
and with good reason. And now we're not last, and there's a good
reason for that -- Robbie Sieverding," McDermott said.
Ironically, in games against the Sycamores,
few of the Player of the Year candidates had big outings. Their
role-playing teammates often did more damage. But Korver and
the Bluejays won both meetings with ISU. And they've swept everyone
else, except Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa.
So for now, it's Korver.
Mark Bennett can be reached by telephone
at 1-800-783-8742, Ext. 377, by e-mail at mark.bennett@tribstar.com
or by fax at (812) 231-4321.
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