Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990 TAG: 9003072098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: BILOXI, MISS. LENGTH: Medium
Southern Mississippi forward Clarence Weatherspoon, who averaged 18.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in leading the Golden Eagles to a surprising second-place conference finish, was named the Metro's player of the year. Tech's Bimbo Coles finished third in the voting, behind Louisville's Felton Spencer.
Cincinnati first-year coach Bob Huggins, who inherited a team with just eight scholarship players and led it to an 18-12 season and its best conference record (9-5) in its 15 years in the league, was named the conference's coach of the year.
Williams, a 6-foot-4 forward from Williamsburg, Va., started 12 of the Hokies' 14 conference games and averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field. He finished the regular season with a 9.9 points-per-game average.
"Dirk was such a good athlete, we had to get him on the floor," Tech coach Frankie Allen said. "He does a good job in taking back with him what you tell him to do. He understands the game, and I really fell good about that."
Williams joined Tulane center Anthony Reed and guard G.J. Hunter, Memphis State center Todd Mundt and Florida State guard Chuck Graham on the all-rookie team. Reed was a near-unanimous choice for freshman of the year.
The choices were made by the Metro Conference Sports Writers and Broadcasters Association and the league's eight coaches. Seventy-five ballots were received.
Weatherspoon tallied 26 votes for player of the year, while Spencer got 21 and Coles 20. Cincinnati's Louis Banks received eight votes. It was the closest player of the year balloting since Coles and Louisville's Pervis Ellison tied and were named co-players of the year in 1988.
In the coach of the year voting, Huggins got 42 1/2 votes to 23 for Louisville's Denny Crum, eight for Southern Miss coach M.K. Turk and 1 1/2 for Tulane's Perry Clark. Huggins is the fourth different Cincy coach to win the honor, joining Gale Catlett, Ed Badger and Tony Yates.
Reed received 72 votes for freshman of the year. He got 74 votes in the all-freshman team voting, followed by Mundt (53), Graham (50), Williams (40) and Hunter (38).
Williams, from Lafayette High School, started the season slowly but moved into the starting lineup Jan. 13 at Tulane, where he scored 21 points. He had 32 points against nationally ranked Louisville on Feb. 1, and those two games mark the only time this season a player other than Coles has led the Hokies in scoring in a game. He also had game-high rebounds in six games.
Williams was the 11th all-freshman team pick for Tech in its 12 years in the league. Last year, forward John Rivers made the team.
"I thought he'd be somebody that could really contribute as the season progressed," Allen said of Williams.
Reed, who shot 54.3 percent from the field, was the league's fourth-leading scorer at 18.9 points per game, and he averaged 8.5 rebounds per game. Hunter set a single-game Tulane record with 13 steals against Louisville Feb. 27. Graham started 19 games and averaged 10.4 points per game for the season. Mundt averaged 8.2 points per game for Memphis State.
by CNB