Roy Wins Poy

Huskies forward Brandon Roy became only the second Husky (and more importantly, the first Garfield Bulldog) to win Pac-10 Player of the Year honors, beating out Cal-Berkeley forward Leon Powe.

Although Powe topped the conference in scoring and rebounding, Roy lead the Huskies down the stretch on both sides of the ball, putting up big numbers and in many games literally carrying the team to victory.

Roy said of the honor, "These things are hard to accomplish. But to sit here today and say, 'I'm the Pac-10 Player of the Year' is a special feeling. I'm just happy to say I've come this far."

The senior was also named first team Pac-10 and more impressively, to ESPN's All-American First Team. Teammates Justin Dentmon and Jon Brockman were named to the conference's rookie squad.

Roy will lead the Huskies into the Pac-10 tournament on Thursday night, where a strong showing could earn the team a three seed, something that seemed unlikely after mid-season losses to Cal, Stanford, and Wazzu.

While Roy's play in February made him the clear choice for the conference player of the year, the battle for national player of the year appears to be a two-way race between Duke's J.J. Reddick and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison. The feeling is Reddick will be named Men's Player of the Year, with Morrison taking home the women's honors.

Morrison's Zags have looked pretty bad down the stretch, barely beating USF, USD, and always uniformed Loyola Marymount. Spokane's favorite team should get a high seed on Sunday, but if they continue their recent play, they will, much like their mayor, be sent home early.