ST. LOUIS, MO – Sporting News dished out its 2006 College Basketball Awards today with Duke’s J.J. Redick taking top honors as Player of the Year. Redick has had a banner season to cap off his collegiate career. While averaging 27.8 points per game, he set the all-time scoring record in both school and ACC history and led the Blue Devils to another regular season and ACC title.



Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl was named Coach of the Year after guiding his squad to an SEC East title, (12-4, 21-6 overall) and its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2001. With Pearl at the helm, the Volunteers led the conference in six statistical categories, including points (81.7), 3-point field goal percentage (.394), steals (10.26), assist-turnover ratio (1.37), turnover margin (+5.89) and three-pointers made (8.81).



Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina was selected as Freshman of the Year. Hansbrough finished the regular season as the ACC’s second leading scorer (19 points per game) and seventh overall in rebounding (7.6 per game). He set a Dean Smith Center scoring record with 40 points in a victory over Georgia Tech, which broke the ACC’s single-game mark for a freshman.



The award winners were determined by Sporting News writers and editors.



First, second and all-freshman teams were also announced:

FIRST TEAM

J.J. Redick, Duke

Randy Foye, Villanova

Brandon Roy, Washington

Adam Morrison, Gonzaga

Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina



SECOND TEAM

Allan Ray, Villanova

Chris Lofton, Tennessee

Leon Powe, California

Glen Davis, LSU

Shelden Williams, Duke

ALL-FRESHMAN

Dominic James, Marquette

Brandon Rush, Kansas

Tyrus Thomas, LSU

Shawne Williams, Memphis

Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina



The 2006 Sporting News College Basketball Awards will be featured in the March 24th issue of the award-winning magazine – on newsstands, Wednesday, March 15th.