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By BRIAN LANDMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 2000
INDIANAPOLIS -- After a short acceptance speech for winning the Associated Press player of the year award, Cincinnati center Kenyon Martin gingerly hopped back to his seat.
He didn't want to use his crutches for such a short trip.
Heck. He's tired of looking at the crutches that he's had to rely on since surgery on the right leg he broke a week before the NCAA Tournament.
"I'd trade all these awards and all this stuff in if I could play right now," he said Friday morning. "I feel if I was still (able to be) playing then maybe my team would still be playing."
That's a sentiment shared by the AP's coach of the year winner, Larry Eustachy, who guided Iowa State to a 32-5 record, its first conference title since 1945 and the school's first Elite Eight appearance.
"When you went down, our entire team was literally in tears," he said during his acceptance speech. "You're what it's all about. ... You're a special guy."
Martin, a 6-9 senior who blossomed offensively this season, averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks before his season ended a few minutes into the Conference USA tournament opener against Saint Louis.
"As great a player as Kenyon is, and he's certainly the best player that I've ever been around and without question the best player in college basketball," Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said, "he's a better person. He didn't come back for that (post-season honors). ... He came back to help his teammates and try to win a national championship."
"It's an honor," added Martin, glancing around the room at poster-sized photos of past winners such as Bill Walton, David Thompson, Larry Bird, Ralph Sampson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and Elton Brand last year. "But it's kind of strange being a spectator."
He said he has begun his rehabilitation and hopes to be able to jog and return to the court by June 1.
"I'm just ready to get off the crutches right now," he said. "That's my biggest thing."
Martin was followed in the voting by Marcus Fizer of Iowa State, Mark Madsen of Stanford, A.J. Guyton of Indiana, Troy Murphy of Notre Dame and Chris Mihm of Texas. Meanwhile, Eustachy thanked his administration, staff, fans and, especially, his players for his award.
"You don't get a coaching award without a player of the year or conference player of the year or All-Americans," he said. "It's about the players."
Eustachy also said that he has talked to Fizer and "encouraged" him to declare early for the NBA draft. "There's an opportunity out there right now and I think he really needs to take advantage of it." ESPN.com reported Fizer will declare for the draft.
LSU: Since the Tigers don't have scholarships to give, former LSU standout Shaquille O'Neal will pay the tuition for his only brother, Jamal Harrison, to play basketball, said Mike Miller, Harrison's coach at Los Angles City College. "Jamal lives with Shaquille, they're very, very close," Miller said. "It's a win-win thing. LSU's short of scholarships and Shaquille played there and would like to help them." At 6-7, 260 pounds, the 20-year-old Harrison is not as big as his brother, the 7-1, 315-pound Lakers center.
TULSA: Coach Bill Self accepted an enhanced deal and withdrew from consideration for the Nebraska job. Self cited the community's support in deciding to stick with the Golden Hurricane, which just finished its best season with its first appearance in an NCAA Tournament region final. He reportedly chose between a deal worth $800,000 to $1-million at Nebraska and a Tulsa compensation package enhanced by a fund-raising drive among corporate leaders.
-- Information from Times wires was used in this report.