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Montrezl Harrell was the only Louisville player or coach to earn one of the eight American Athletic Conference individual awards handed out Wednesday afternoon. Harrell was named the league's Most Improved Player.
The previous paragraph means that Russ Smith was not named the AAC's Player of the Year, a distinction which went to Connecticut's Shabazz Napier. Austin Nichols (Rookie of the Year), Mick Cronin (Coach of the Year) and Justin Jackson (Defensive Player of the Year) claimed the league's other major awards.
Napier is a terrific player, but I'm good with riding into the postseason with the guy who didn't win the award...and whose team just beat Napier's by 33.
Here's the full list of honorees:
Player of the Year
Shabazz Napier, G, UConn
Coach of the Year
Mick Cronin, Cincinnati
Rookie of the Year
Austin Nichols, F, Memphis
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jimmy McDonnell, F, Temple
Undefeated Player of the Year
David Levitch, G, Louisville
Defensive Player of the Year
Justin Jackson, F, Cincinnati
Sixth Man of the Year
Michael Dixon Jr., G, Memphis
Most Improved Player
Montrezl Harrell, F, Louisville
Sportsmanship Award
Sean Kilpatrick, G, Cincinnati
One of those may or may not have actually been handed out.
