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Draymond Green prevents Anthony Davis’ award sweep

spt-120401-draymond

Mike Miller

Michigan State’s Draymond Green did what few players could do this season – top Anthony Davis.

Green was named the national player of the year Sunday night by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, preventing Davis from sweeping all the postseason awards in college basketball.

There’s little doubt Green was worthy of All-America honors. He led the Spartans in scoring (16.2 ppg), rebounding (10.6 rpg), steals (54), and 3-point field goals (52), while ranking second in assists (3.8 apg) and blocks (36) and was the reason they went from unranked in the preseason to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

But did he deserve it over Davis? I’d argue no, but there’s also nothing wrong with rewarding a senior who was perhaps the game’s best all-around player.

“Draymond embodies everything that is right about a college basketball player and he’s very deserving of the award,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said in a release. “He’s done what few can do and that’s get better each and every year.

The NABC has broken from postseason award convention before, too. It was the lone organization to name Duke’s Jason Williams as the player of the year in 2001 when everyone else was honoring his teammate, Shane Battier.

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.