Remember the whining prior to the 2001-02 season about how all the great players were bolting early to the NBA, or not even stopping by for a season or two?

Well, we even wrote about it and we, like everyone else, didn't think the talent pool would be this good, this season.

But it was -- from freshmen, to newcomers, to all-Americans, to even the coaches. This was one of the toughest seasons to make our choices for ESPN.com's regular-season awards. While hardware doesn't get handed out by us -- the Wooden Award, Naismith, AP and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association has the market cornered -- we certainly offer our suggestions from our think tank in Bristol, Ct.

	Jason Williams had plenty of competition, but is ESPN.com's player of the year.

Player of the Year
This was a tough call. But Jason Williams is still the best player in the nation. Yes, Duke's junior point guard (who won't be back for his senior season) has struggled at the free-throw line, making just 67 percent of his shots. But Williams still averaged 21 points a game, made 46.4 percent of his shots, and he is still the most dangerous player on the court. He can take over a game quicker than any other player in the running for this award. He is a winner and a proven leader. He won the Kentucky game earlier in the season and has the best chance to take over a game en route to a national title run.

ESPN.com All-Americans
Here are the four players ESPN.com would put on its first team with Williams

Steve Logan, Sr., G, Cincinnati: Logan lifted the Bearcats to the top of Conference USA and to a possible No. 1 seed. Logan averaged 22 points a game for the Bearcats. He was a big-game player and had the potential to take over games. His size was never an issue and flourished in Bob Huggins' system.

Drew Gooden, Jr., F, Kansas: Few players improved from one season to the next as much as Gooden. He elevated his game, and as a result took Kansas to another level -- to the top spot in the nation. Gooden averaged 20 points and was a nightly threat to put up a double-double. He is and was one of the toughest matchups of the season.

Juan Dixon, Sr., G, Maryland: Dixon was a true leader on the best Terps team in Gary Williams' tenure. Dixon averaged nearly 20 points a game, and made big shots in big games. But his defense was also sensational. He was a stopper who could help change the outcome of the game. Dixon helped change the psyche of this team from one that was in Duke's shadow to a team that wasn't afraid to knock down the Blue Devils.

Dan Dickau, Sr., G, Gonzaga: This was the toughest choice -- the choice of the fifth all-American. There were plenty of worthy candidates, players like USC's Sam Clancy or Xavier's David West. But Dickau can't be ignored. The Bulldogs entered the WCC tournament at 26-3 and won the tournament with Dickau's performance in the final that was one of the best six-minute stretches this season. He might not be a great pro, but he is one of the five best college basketball players this season making big-time shots nearly every game.

Team of the Year
Kansas was simply sensational this season. Going undefeated in the Big 12 (the only team to go undefeated into its conference tournament simply is amazing). Kansas wasn't supposed to be this good and met nearly every challenge. It lost on the road at UCLA and its only other regular-season loss -- to Ball State in the Maui Invitational -- occurred when Aaron Miles suffered a cramp and allowed a game-winning layup. The Jayhawks were the best team on the break, one of the best scoring teams in the nation, and were dominant at home. Forget about how the brackets break, the Jayhawks enter the NCAA Tournament as the favorite to win the national title.

	Bob Huggins has the Bearcats back among the nation's elite.

Coach of the Year
The hardest pick among the categories was coach of the year. There are so many deserving candidates, enough that a case can be made for each one of them. But Cincinnati's Bob Huggins gets ESPN.com's nod this season.

Cincinnati wasn't in the preseason top 25. Maybe that was a mistake, but the reality is Huggins coached a team led by Logan, but with plenty of parts that he had to make work together. He got production out of Leonard Stokes and Immanuel McElroy on the perimeter, and steadily developed inside players Jason Maxiel, Jamaal Davis and Donald Little into the toughest (if not the most talented) trio in the nation. They played tremendous defense and they found ways to score. They're a contender for the national title when they weren't supposed to be this season. It occurred after a preseason in which he lost his top recruiter and was overshadowed by the arrival of Rick Pitino to Louisville and the second-year of John Calipari at Memphis.

Our props also go out to Pittsburgh's Ben Howland, who took the Panthers to the top of the Big East when they were thought to be in the bottom third. Marquette's Tom Crean plowed through the Great Alaska Shootout with wins over Tennessee, Indiana and Gonzaga and he got a win over Cincinnati to get into the top 10. Gonzaga's Mark Few won 29 games and got Gonzaga, that's right Gonzaga, into the top 10. Texas Tech's Bob Knight took the nine-win Red Raiders to the top six in the Big 12 and the top 25. Kansas' Roy Williams was the coach of the best team when they weren't supposed to be this good. Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson was on Kansas' tails with six of his top seven once transfers. Maryland's Gary Williams maintained the Terps atop the ACC, claiming the first league title for the school since 1980. All Alabama's Mark Gottfried did was win the SEC, perhaps, the toughest league in the country. Oh, and Wisconsin's Bo Ryan took the Badgers to the top of the Big Ten, their first title since the '40s after looking awful early in the season. Oregon's Ernie Kent did the same in Eugene, getting his alma mater the Pac-10 title for the first time since before World War II.

But the winner, for us, was Huggins.

Newcomer of the Year
Once he got eligible, and the nation learned how to spell his name, Dwyane Wade matured into a stud for the Eagles in their run to the top two spot in Conference USA. Wade, who sat out as a freshman, made shots, handled the ball, defended, blocked shots and was a defensive pest. He gave the Eagles instant offense, something they lacked last season. Wade gets the nod over St. John's junior college transfer Marcus Hatten, who was just as productive a scorer. But Hatten played on an erratic team that struggled to get a NCAA bid. Wade transformed the Eagles into an NCAA team by New Year's Eve.

Freshman of the Year
This might have been one of the best crops of freshmen in years. And while Dajuan Wagner may never play in the NCAA Tournament (his Tigers are squarely on the bubble), the phenom from Jersey more than lived up to his legendary high school reputation as an impact player who could do more than just score -- something few thought was possible. Texas point T.J. Ford, Notre Dame point Chris Thomas, Minnesota forward Rick Rickert, Alabama point Maurice Williams, VMI wing Jason Conley and Connecticut center Emeka Okafor each changed their teams dramatically every time they stepped on the court. They were instant offense, automatic playmakers or disrupting shot-blockers. But Wagner stood out for how much he could improve the Tigers in one season. Sure, having Kelly Wise inside made Wagner a better player but he could take over a game by himself a bit better than the other candidates. He entered the season as the best freshman and leaves this season, perhaps, his only season as the top one, too.

Defensive Player of the Year
John Linehan was the best on-the-ball defender this season, last season and maybe the season before that. In case you missed it, Linehan will leave college as the all-time leader in steals and had 134 this season (4.5 spg). Every point in the Big East lists Linehan as the toughest player to get past in the league. He never got the national publicity he deserved and will be sorely missed. He actually loves playing defense, loved it since he first played basketball. He made Tim Welsh's job a lot easier, always knowing that his defense would be pushed out further from the basket because of Linehan's pestering play.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.