Geno Auriemma Praises Kevin Ollie and Close Friend Phil Martelli

Some nice words from Geno Auriemma on Kevin Ollie at today's Middlesex Chamber of Commerce breakfast, by way of Register colleague Jim Fuller, who covers the women's team.



"They missed out on that last year and for Kevin and those seniors to hang in the way that they did, to stay and do what they did this year and the way they did it ... Nobody knew what it was going to be like when Coach Calhoun stepped down but anybody who sat there and said 'don't worry about it, Kevin is going to win 20, 22, 23, 24 games every year and have the kind of program he has built already and the way these kids conduct themselves. He should be coach of the year in any league he was in these last two years. I know you are all rooting for him as much as I am and I can't wait until they play Thursday night when they play St. Joe's who is coached by one of my best friends."

Indeed, Auriemma is very tight with St. Joe's longtime head coach Phil Martelli. Here's what he had to say about that:

"I know how excited he is for this group of guys, this team. He's had an incredibly difficult year and it's got nothing to do with basketball so I don't think I have ever seen Phil that emotional after winning a game. I hope they play great but that is as far as I will go with that."

*** And here are my AP All-America teams and national player of the year, coach of the year picks, as well as my final AP Top 25 ballot of the season:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Doug McDermott, Creighton
COACH OF THE YEAR: Gregg Marshall, Wichita State

FIRST TEAM

Doug McDermott, Creighton
Shabazz Napier, Connecticut
Russ Smith, Louisville
Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati
Jabari Parker, Duke

SECOND TEAM

Bryce Cotton, Providence
Montrezl Harrell, Louisville
Melvin Ejim, Iowa State
Andrew Wiggins, Kansas
Nik Stauskas, Michigan

THIRD TEAM

Gary Harris, Michigan State
Casey Prather, Florida
Kyle Anderson, UCLA
Cleanthony Early, Wichita State
Nick Johnson, Arizona

And here's my final (and most irrelevant) AP Top 25 ballot of the season.

1.       Florida

2.       Wichita State

3.       Louisville

4.       Virginia

5.       Arizona

6.       San Diego State

7.       Duke

8.       Iowa State

9.       Michigan State

10.   Kansas

11.   Michigan

12.   Wisconsin

13.   Cincinnati

14.   Villanova

15.   Creighton

16.   New Mexico

17.   Gonzaga

18.   UConn

19.   Syracuse

20.   North Carolina

21.   Virginia Commonwealth

22.   Ohio State

23.   Kentucky

24.   Harvard

25.   Providence