| | INDIANAPOLIS -- Iowa State and Cincinnati began the college
basketball season together in Hawaii at the Big Island
Invitational.
On Friday, Cyclones coach Larry Eustachy and Bearcats center
Kenyon Martin were together again, honored by The Associated Press
as coach and player of the year.
"You don't do it without players," said Eustachy, whose team
is 32-5 and won the Big 12 regular-season and conference tournament
titles. "We have a classy, classy group of guys. Everybody
accepted their role."
Eustachy recalled talking to his team about Martin in the
championship game of the Hawaii tournament.
"I told them this guy blocks shots, make sure you pump fake,"
the coach said. "He blocked nine and thought he should have had
10, but they called a foul on the other one."
That was the start of an outstanding season for Martin, who was
one vote shy of being a unanimous All-America selection and
averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks.
The 6-foot-8 senior broke his leg three minutes into a
quarterfinal loss to Saint Louis in the conference tournament. That
cost the Bearcats the No. 1 ranking, a position they held this
season for 12 weeks.
"I'd trade all these awards if I could play," Martin said. "I
was fine until the tournament started and then it hit me."
Martin said he hoped to be back on the basketball court by June
1.
"It's not up to the doctors," he said. "It's up to Kenyon.
I'll do whatever it takes. I do what they ask me to do."
Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins saluted Martin's dedication.
"As great a player as Kenyon is, and he's the best I've been
around, he's a better person," Huggins said.
Martin, a three-time defensive player of the year in Conference
USA, was followed in the voting by AP member newspapers and radio
stations by Marcus Fizer of Iowa State, Mark Madsen of Stanford,
A.J. Guyton of Indiana, Troy Murphy of Notre Dame and Chris Mihm of
Texas.
Martin is the first player from Cincinnati to win the Adolph
Rupp Trophy, which was first awarded in 1961.
Eustachy is 206-106 in a career that has included stops at Idaho
and Utah State. He is the first Iowa State coach to win the award,
which was first presented in 1967.
He was followed in the voting by Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, John
Brady of LSU, Mike Montgomery of Stanford, John Chaney of Temple,
Bob Huggins of Cincinnati and Lute Olson of Arizona. | |
ALSO SEE
Iowa State's Fizer to leave for NBA, source says
 |
