College Basketball 2005

1.  Sean May: Was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.  He helped led North Carolina to its first national title in 12 years.

May went 10-11 from the field and had 26 points and 10 rebounds in the national championship game vs. #1 Illinois.

He had 22-7 in the semi win over #15 Michigan State.

In the East regional final vs. #20 Wisconsin the junior pumped in 29-12, which helped earn him regional MVP.

For the tournament, May averaged 22 points and 10.7 rebounds a game.

He was named Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated, 1^st team All-American by ESPN.

May was 2^nd team All-American by several other publications.

He helped UNC wrap up the ACC regular season title with 26-24, in a 75-73 come from behind season finale win over #3  Duke. The Tar Heels trailed by nine with under three minutes to go but scored the last 11 for the win.

The Tar Heels’ powerful forward was 3^rd in the ACC with 17.5 PPG, and field goal % (56.7). He was second in the conference with 10.7 RPG.

North Carolina finished the season #2 in the final poll and was 33-4 (13-3 in ACC). They led the country in scoring 88 points a game.  

2. Deron Williams: Was a consensus 2^nd team All-American. He was a finalist for the Wooden and U.S Basketball Writers player of the year.

He was 1^st team All Big 10.

Williams led Illinois to a 29-0 start in regular season and eventually to a 32-1 season and #1final ranking.

The junior point guard led the Big Ten in assists with 6.8 per game. He was 8^th in the conference shooting 41.7 % on threes.

He averaged 12.5 points per game.

Williams was the Midwest region MVP.   He averaged 16.5 PPG, 8.5 APG in 37 minutes per game in the four regional games.

In the regional final vs. #9 Arizona, the Fighting Illni trailed by 15 with four minutes to play.  Williams sparked a legendary comeback with eight points and the tying three pointer with 38 seconds in regulation.

   

He finished the game with 22 points, including five threes, and ten assists.

D-Will dished out nine assists in Illinois 72-57 win over #4 Louisville in the Final Four.

He played every minute of the Final against #2 UNC. Williams had 17 points and seven dimes in the five point loss to the Tar Heels.

3.  J. J Redick: Was the ACC Player of the Year and tournament MVP. 

He won the Rupp trophy for national player of the year and was a consensus All-American.

Redick led the ACC in scoring (10^th in the NCAA) with 21.8 PPG, 37.3 minutes, and 93.7 FT% (2^nd in the NCAA).

He was second in the conference hitting 40% of 3s.

He scored 20+ in 21 games and hit at least five three pointers in 11 games. That included 38 points and six threes in a 102-92 win over #5 Wake Forest.

While leading the 3^rd ranked Blue Devils to the ACC title Redick averaged 25.7 a game, including 26 in the final over #25 Georgia Tech. 

He had 35 points, seven threes , and six assists in 40 minutes in the semis vs. NC State, an eventual sweet 16 team.  

The junior guard helped Duke to it’s 8^th straight sweet 16 with 16 points, 5 rebs., and two steals in 40 minutes.

Duke went 27-6 and was the #1 seed in the South, where they fell to Michigan State in the sweet 16.

In the summer, he helped USA to an 8-1 record in the FIBA under 21 championships. He scored 22 vs. Nigeria and Argentina; hitting six threes in both games.

The US was stunned in the knockout rounds by Canada.