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Both college basketball polls are now out, and the Cougars (27-2) have checked in at No. 3 in both the AP Top 25 survey and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. The Cougars received five first-place votes in the media poll, getting No. 1 tabs from John Feinstein (representing NPR), Mark Berman (Roanoke (Va.) Times), Joey Johnston (Tampa Tribune), Jerry Tipton (Lexington (Ky) Herald-Leader) and Scott Reid (Orange County Register). BYU's worst ranking among the AP voters was No. 7, as Jon Wilner of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News and Ron Morris of The State newspaper in South Carolina put it there. ———————————- BYU coach Dave Rose did not participate in this morning's MWC coaches teleconference, so I won't have any comments from Rose to pass along today until after practice (approximately 4:45 p.m.). Rose was at the Class 5A Utah State Basketball Tournament at Ogden's Dee Events Center, presumably there to watch a couple of prep players who already have offers from BYU: West Jordan junior Jordan Loveridge and Lone Peak sophomore Nick Emery. Honors continue to pile up for Jimmer Fredette. The latest accolade for the BYU senior is that he's been named one of 10 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, which is presented to the national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Here's BYU release on that: The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has announced that BYU senior guard Jimmer Fredette is one of 10 finalists for the 2011 Oscar Robertson Trophy, to be presented to the association's national player of the year.Fredette has led BYU to a No. 3 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and a 27-2 overall record, including 13-1 in the Mountain West Conference. The Glens Falls, N.Y., native leads the nation in scoring at 27.3 points per game.A pair of teammates – Duke's Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith – and a pair of freshmen – Kentucky's Terrence Jones and Ohio State's Jared Sullinger – are among the 10 players selected to appear on the ballot. Fredette is the lone returning player of the year finalist from a year ago. Other finalists include Big 12 standouts Jordan Hamilton of Texas and Marcus Morris of Kansas, as well as Purdue's JaJuan Johnson, Connecticut's Kemba Walker and Arizona's Derrick Williams.Fredette (Dec. 12), Hamilton (Jan. 23) and Smith (Feb. 13) were among the 11 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week handed out by the USBWA this season. This was the second season that the USBWA has chosen a national player of the week.The presentation of this year's award will take place on Friday, April 1 at the USBWA's annual awards breakfast at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston in conjunction with the NCAA Men's Final Four. The breakfast will also honor the winner of the Henry Iba Award, the association's coach of the year and will announce the winner of the first Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year Award.The Oscar Robertson Trophy is voted on by the entire membership of the association, which consists of nearly 900 journalists. The ballot will be distributed to the membership today, Mon., Feb. 28.The following players are finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy:Jimmer Fredette, BYUJordan Hamilton, TexasJaJuan Johnson, PurdueTerrence Jones, KentuckyMarcus Morris, KansasKyle Singler, DukeNolan Smith, DukeJared Sullinger, Ohio StateKemba Walker, ConnecticutDerrick Williams, Arizona