NCAA roundup News and notes

April 4, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

AP Player of the Year: Oklahoma sophomore forward Blake Griffin is the runaway choice as The Associated Press’ college basketball player of the year. The 6-10 Griffin averaged 22.7 points and led the nation with 14.4 rebounds per game while shooting a Big 12 record 65.4 percent from the field. Griffin, the first Oklahoma player to win the award, led the Sooners to a 30-6 record and the regional finals of the NCAA tournament. Griffin, who had 30 double-doubles this season, was to be honored Friday, four days after he was the only unanimous selection to the AP All-America team. He received 66 votes from the 71-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, who won the award last year, received two votes as did DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh.

Coach of the Year: Bill Self, who led Kansas to the national championship last year and had the Jayhawks back in the title hunt this season, is the AP college basketball coach of the year. Self lost all five starters from the team that beat Memphis in the championship game, leaving him to work with two veterans and eight newcomers. The Jayhawks finished 27-8 and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament, winning the Big 12 title for the fifth straight season. Self has a 169-40 record in six seasons at Kansas and is 376-145 in 16 seasons as a head coach. He received 28 votes from the 71-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25, easily beating Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh, who had 10.

Georgia coach: Georgia has a new men’s basketball coach, formally introducing Nevada’s Mark Fox after a whirlwind interview process. Fox interviewed with athletic director Damon Evans in Atlanta on Thursday and was offered the job a short time later. The new coach agreed to a six-year contract paying $1.3 million a year.

Associated Press