It was a clean sweep for Memphis in men's basketball and Tennessee in women's basketball for the annual awards given to the top coaches and players in the state of Tennessee by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association awards.
Memphis coach John Calipari, who guided the Tigers to a 38-2 record and the national championship game, was named men's Coach of The Year in a vote by members of the TSWA. Memphis lost 75-68 in overtime to Kansas.
Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis was named men's Player of the Year. The junior guard averaged was an Associated Press first-team All-American, scored a team-leading 18.1 points per game, and was Conference USA's player of the year.
Pat Summitt of the Lady Vols was named women's Coach of the Year. Summitt guided the Lady Vols to a 36-2 record and their second consecutive national championship.
Candace Parker of the Lady Vols was named women's Player of the Year. Parker averaged 21.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She won numerous awards including Associated Press player of the year.
The TSWA men's all-star team for the state included Douglas-Roberts, Derrick Rose of Memphis, Shan Foster of Vanderbilt, Tyler Smith of Tennessee and Lester Hudson of UT Martin.
The women's all-star team included Parker, Amber Holt of Middle Tennessee State University, Alexis Hornbuckle of Tennessee, Alex Anderson of Chattanooga and Jana Cross of Freed-Hardeman .
Calipari, Douglas-Roberts, Summitt and Parker will be honored July 9 during the TSWA convention. The awards dinner takes place at the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association in Hermitage. Also honored that night will be Earl Bennett of Vanderbilt, the college football player of the year and Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee, the college football coach of the year.
The TSWA convention is July 9-11 in Lebanon.
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Comments » 9
FLAVOLS writes:
For this year in men's basketball at least it was and will continue to be close. In the largest sport, football, I see no mention of Memphis and never will.
overatedvols writes:
There you have it, the two best teams in Tenn..
I don't think there can be any argument with this.
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
It always amazes me how under rated Nikki Anosike is...even in the state of Tennessee. She won the championship for us in 2007 with her rebounding and you never hear that mentioned either. She won us many games with sheer leadership. Thanks Nikki!!
ncvol writes:
I agree with LdyVolFaninKS about Nikki. She made us proud many times with her defense and offense.She was serious in the Championship game.I loved it.Good job Lady Vols - you make us proud.
BigOrangeVol writes:
'08: #2 UT - 66, #1 Memphis State - 62
'07: Unranked UT - 76, #16 Memphis State - 58
UT is 7-2 in the last 10 years versus Tiger High (78%).
No skewed logic; no arbitrary or capricious awards given out by jock-sniffing sports writers that are wannabe athletes who could never play, coach or understand the game… these are just the cold hard facts!
Try again little brother; chew on that awhile!!!
BigOrangeJeff writes:
LOL, Jock-sniffing sports writers...
auttat writes:
itsme, 66-62, sorry dude. But congrats on winning the awards. Maybe you all can sign some sportswriters up for the team next year. Maybe there opinions will actually help you all beat UT...on the court.
We will see you next year!
BigOrangeVol writes:
Poor little Tigers cubs just can't get past the fact that they get spanked by big brother at a 78% clip in the only sport that they are even remotely competitive in.
Congratulations on the most prolific choke job in NCAA Finals history! The good news is that only 19.5 million people saw it happen. Thank goodness it was the 4th LOWEST watched Finals since 1975! Their humiliation could have been worse… it could have been 35 million that witnessed the greatest gag of all time or the average 27 million that usually watch.
They should try and teach those mudpuppies something about Logic down there in Arkissippi. By definition, the superior team beats the inferior team. When you constantly denigrate and malign the quality of the team that regularly beats you then what does that say about your team? If Memphis State is so great then how can they get beat on a consistent basis by a lowly drugged-up bunch of morons? Hmmm, there seems to be a flaw in that logic somewhere. One or both of those two assertions is incorrect; which is it?
FUT writes:
Your men's basketball team is a disgrace to the state of TN. The "Drugs and Thugs" Volunteers should worry about getting past the sweet sixteen. Let's face it. Florida will always be better than UT.
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