BEST of the WEEK | Nov. 22, 2004
Awards based on games from Monday through Sunday
This is the first installment of my Best of the Week awards for this season. Enjoy it all season long, baby!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hakim Warrick, Syracuse
Hakim Warrick, the All-Rolls Royce forward, put on a show at Madison Square Garden, helping his Orange squad beat a pair of ranked opponents (Mississippi State and Memphis).
Warrick, who started slowly against the Bulldogs, electrified the crowd with some of his moves. He scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against coach Rick Stansbury's club. Then, in the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, he scored 25 points to get Syracuse the gold trophy.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Syracuse
Coach Jim Boeheim's club showed its depth and strength with Warrick and Gerry McNamara leading the way in the Coaches vs. Cancer title game. This Orange club is capable of going a long way this season if Boeheim's sophomore class can come through to give support to Warrick and McNamara. The eventual return of Billy Edelin will help as well.
DIAPER DANDY OF THE WEEK: Sean Singletary, Virginia
Just ask Arizona coach Lute Olson what he thought of Sean Singletary! All the Cavalier newcomer did was score 15 points, dish out eight assists, grab six rebounds and add five steals in an 18-point upset over Arizona.
SHOCK OF THE WEEK: Santa Clara over North Carolina
The Tar Heels were my preseason pick as No. 1, and it's very early, but coach Roy Williams and Co. didn't play up to expectations in the opener at the Pete Newell Challenge. Yes, Raymond Felton was serving a one-game suspension, but this was still Shock City, baby!
COACH OF THE WEEK: Tom Brennan, Vermont
It isn't very often that we honor a coach who suffered an L.. Brennan is retiring at the end of this season, but he and his Catamounts put quite an impression on the folks in Lawrence, Kansas.
Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk had quite a battle against Taylor Coppenrath and Co. In the end, it was too much Wayne Simien and Kansas, but give Brennan's team credit for battling and clawing till the very end.
Click here to send a question for Dick Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.
