Midseason Honors & Awards

Okay, so it's a little past the midway point, but we're far enough into conference play that we can get a feel for how things are stacking up. There's still a lot of basketball left to be played, so these lists are subject to change.

Player of the Year

1) Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Soph Center 6-9 265
17.3p 9.3r 1.5s
Cases certainly can be made for Robinson and Davis, but I'll take Sully, who reminds me of Kevin Love in his ability to dictate the flow of the game from the post.

2) Thomas Robinson, Kansas
Jr Forward 6-10 235
17.8p 12.0r 1.2b
Nation's second leading rebounder has recorded a double-double in 14 of 20 outings.

3) Anthony Davis, Kentucky
Fr Center 6-10 220
13.2p 10.3r 4.7b
The gap between Sullinger and Davis is negligible.

4) Doug McDermott, Creighton
Soph Forward 6-7 220
23.5p 8.5r 1.3a
Heady offensive player is nation's second leading scorer but doesn't care much for playing defense.

5) Mike Scott, Virginia
Sr Forward 6-8 235
16.6p 8.4r 1.6a
The fifth year senior's numbers are all the more impressive considering the Cavaliers' exceedingly slow pace.

6) Kevin Jones, West Virginia
Sr Forward 6-8 260
20.9p 11.6r 1.1b
Jones is averaging a double-double and shooting almost four 3-pointers a game (despite making less than 30% of his attempts).

7) Draymond Green, Michigan State
Sr Forward 6-7 230
15.3p 10.4r 3.7a
Once overrated, one of the smartest players in college basketball is now underrated, especially on the defensive end.

8) Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky
Fr Forward 6-7 230
13.2p 7.6r 1.2s
There's a significant gap between the 8 and 9 spots on this list.

9) Cody Zeller, Indiana
Fr Center 6-11 230
14.7p 6.2r 1.5b
Where would the Hoosiers be without the talented freshman?

10) Damian Lillard, Weber State
Jr Guard 6-3 195
24.8p 5.8r 3.7a
The Wildcats are 16-3 and undefeated in Big Sky play thanks in no small part to the nation's leading scorer (who gets the nod over Mizzou's Marcus Denmon and UConn's Jeremy Lamb for the 10 spot).

Best Defender

1) Anthony Davis, Kentucky
Fr Center 6-10 220
Future Number One pick leads nation with 4.7 blocks per contest and hauls in 10.3 boards per game.

2) Aaron Craft, Ohio State
Soph Guard 6-2 190
The best on-ball defender in the country averages 2.4 steals per game and is the only defender in the same stratosphere as Davis.

3) C.J. Aiken, St. Joseph's
Soph Forward 6-9 190
Nation's second leading shot-blocker at 4.3 rejections per game is big reason St. Joe's is competitive again after a disastrous 2010-11 campaign.

4) John Henson, North Carolina
Jr Forward 6-11 220
Just imagine how much more awful the Tar Heels' defense would be without Hensons's 3.3 blocks and 10.1 rebounds per contest.

5) Fuquan Edwin, Seton Hall
Soph Forward 6-6 205
Could have gone with Oregon State's Jared Cunningham here, but Edwin, who has been largely over-shadowed by teammates Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore, leads nation in steals at 3.1 per game and also crashes the boards to the tune of 6.8 rebounds per contest.

Top Freshman

1) Anthony Davis, Kentucky
Center 6-10 220
The impact Davis has on the defensive end is almost impossible to overstate.

2) Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky
Forward 6-7 230
MKG's numbers are impressive, but they don't begin to tell the whole story for one of the most versatile players in the country.

3) Cody Zeller, Indiana
Center 6-11 230
Zeller is getting banged around in Big Ten play but has exceeded lofty expectations.

4) Trey Burke, Michigan
Guard 5-11 180
Wolverines' point guard averages 14 points and 5 assists per game and has more than made up for the early departure of Darius Morris.

5) Moe Harkless, St. John's
Forward 6-8 190
Harkless, an extremely well-rounded player (16.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.6 steals) who has filled a number of roles for the Red Storm, edges out the one-dimensional Austin Rivers, who leads Duke in scoring but doesn't add much else.

*For those of you who miss RBP's Freshman Power Rankings, here are 6 -10: (6) Austin Rivers, Duke; (7) Quincy Miller, Baylor; (8) Le'Bryan Nash, Oklahoma State; (9) Tony Wroten, Washington; and (10) Jerian Grant, Notre Dame. Florida's Bradley Beal is my first man out. There's not much of a difference between Quincy Miller at 7 and Beal at 11. In fact, I like Beal more than Austin Rivers, but Beal has been a bit passive at times. If Beal starts asserting himself more often, there's no reason he couldn't finish the season as the country's fourth best freshman. Central Connecticut State's Kyle Vinales probably deserves some recognition for being the leading scorer among all freshman at 18.4 points per game. And where are you, Andre Drummond? I see flashes, but the consistency just isn't there right now.

Coach of the Year

1) John Thompson III, Georgetown
The Hoyas were picked to finish in bottom half of Big East and are now a top 10 team nationally, despite not having a star on their roster.

2) Bill Self, Kansas
I'm not sure any team has improved as much as the Jayhawks have over the course of the season.

3) Tony Bennett, Virginia
Watch this team play, and try not to be impressed with its discipline on both ends of the floor.

4) Tom Crean, Indiana
Three weeks ago Crean would have topped this list.

5) Frank Haith, Missouri
Sure, they are Mike Anderson's guys, but Haith has made some pretty significant changes to the Tigers' approach and has them playing like a top 10 team (despite having only 2 scholarship players taller than 6-6).