The United States Basketball Writers Association of America (USBWA) has announced the 15 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and UConn Huskies junior center Hasheem Thabeet is among the finalists.
The Oscar Robertson Trophy is awarded to the USBWA’s Player of the Year. It is the nation’s oldest award and the only one named after a former player. The legendary Oscar Robertson was the USBWA’s first player of the year in 1959. The USBWA renamed its player of the year award the Oscar Robertson Trophy in 1998.
North Carolina senior Tyler Hansbrough won the award last year and is looking to repeat, something that hasn’t been since 1981-1983 when Ralph Sampson won it 3 straight times.
The award will be handed out on April 3rd at the USBWA’s annual awards breakfast at the downtown Detroit Athletic Club in conjunction with the Men’s Final Four.
| 2009 OSCAR ROBERTSON TROPHY FINALISTS | ||||||
| Pos. | No. | Player, School | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Hometown |
| F | 45 | DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh | 6-7 | 265 | So. | Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| G | 4 | Sherron Collins, Kansas | 5-11 | 200 | Jr. | Chicago, Ill. |
| F | 33 | Dante Cunningham, Villanova | 6-8 | 230 | Sr. | Silver Spring, Md. |
| G | 30 | Stephen Curry, Davidson | 6-3 | 185 | Jr. | Charlotte, N.C. |
| G | 12 | Tyreke Evans, Memphis | 6-6 | 219 | Fr. | Chester, Pa. |
| F | 23 | Blake Griffin, Oklahoma | 6-10 | 251 | So. | Oklahoma City, Okla. |
| F | 50 | Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina | 6-9 | 250 | Sr. | Poplar Bluff, Mo. |
| F | 44 | Luke Harangody, Notre Dame | 6-8 | 255 | Jr. | Schererville, Ind. |
| G | 13 | James Harden, Arizona State | 6-5 | 218 | So. | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| G | 5 | Ty Lawson, North Carolina | 5-11 | 195 | Jr. | Clinton, Md. |
| G | 22 | Jerel McNeal, Marquette | 6-3 | 200 | Sr. | Chicago, Ill. |
| G | 23 | Jodie Meeks, Kentucky | 6-4 | 208 | Jr. | Norcross, Ga. |
| C | 34 | Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut | 7-3 | 263 | Jr. | Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania |
| G | 0 | Jeff Teague, Wake Forest | 6-2 | 180 | So. | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| G/F | 21 | Evan Turner, Ohio State | 6-7 | 205 | So. | Chicago, Ill. |
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