Cool hand Luke takes control: Arizona's Luke Walton was a shockingly-sweet junior. Now it's time for our Player of the Year to really shine - Men's All-America Team

Basketball Digest, Dec, 2002 by Tom Kertes

"WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO WRITE ABOUT ME?" ponders Arizona forward Luke Walton, the very embodiment of laid-back cool. "Actually, I'm a pretty boring guy."

Walton's is a Hollywood story not only due to dad Bill's superstardom but also because, just a short season back, the idea of Cool Hand Luke as College Player of the Year would have drawn a heaping helping of hardy-har-hars from the most down-and-out group of desperate depressives.

How did this blue-collared woodchopper--not much more than a hard-working reserve as a soph (5.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg)--morph into this improvisational genius all of a sudden? When exactly did LW become so maddeningly multitalented that he's impossible to guard? How did he turn into the only player in Pac-10 history to notch more than 450 points, 200 rebounds, 175 assists, and 50 steals in a season?

No one knows--but Dad surely helped.

"Growing up, me and my three brothers, we pretty much ate, drank, and slept basketball," Walton says. Even when The Big Redhead wasn't there in the physical sense--the parents divorced a long time

Walton launched the Wildcats into contention last year; now he's shooting for an NCAA title. ago--he was, you know, there. "He still is," Walton smiles. "He calls every day. During the NCAA Tournament, he called 12 times a day, giving me John Wooden aphorisms and stuff."

"The great thing about Luke is that he listens," Arizona coach Lute Olson says. "And the other great thing about him that others listen to him as well. People are drawn to this kid. He is a natural leader." Which came in real Cool and tremendously Handy last year as the freshmen-laden 'Cats went from no-chance kittens into national championship-contending lions in about a minute, as Walton won game after game by hitting the biggest shots in the clutch.

Still, the best thing about Cool Hand's game is his uncanny vision. "Luke's our eyes on the court," soph sensation Channing Frye says. "You get to an open spot, he's going to find you." As a consequence, Luke--a 6'8" swing forward--found himself atop the powerhouse Pac-10's assists list last season, ahead of every pass-first point guard in the conference. Naturally, he also led all of the nation's frontcourt players in assists by an unnatural margin. The rest of the time Walton scored (15.8 ppg), boarded (7.3 rpg), and transported his too-young teammates to another level on his Phil Jaazksonesque angular shoulders.

This season, Walton returns as the best player on what's possibly the nation's best team--and 'Zona would be in an entirely other zone without or Cool Hand, according to Olson. "Everything we do runs through Luke," the coach avers. "So everything runs smo-o-o-o-th."

The nation's top smoothie--and our Player of the Year pick--leads our All-Americans. Here's how the rest of the first team, and our second and third squads, shake out:

FIRST TEAM

POINT GUARD

Brandin Knight (6'0" senior, Pittsburgh)

The Panthers are little more than a bunch of medium-talented pussycats. But with Knight's Toscanini-like conducting, Pittsburgh was a powerful 29-6 party-crasher into the NCAA Sweet 16.

Knight was the nation's statistical MVP in 2001-02, with his points and assists contributing a full 47.8% of Pitt's total production. Compare that, for instance, with Player of the Year Jason Williams' 37.8 with Duke and you'll begin to get the idea of Knight's worth.

The numbers don't lie: Last season Knight improved nearly every facet of his game (15.6 ppg, school-record 7.2 apg, and 4.8 rpg--as opposed to 8.0, 5.5, and 3.8 in 2000-01) to near-ridiculous levels. In addition, his three-point shooting shot from 32.5% to 36.7% and his steals from 1.8 to 2.3.

SHOOTING GUARD

Dwayne Wade (6'4" junior, Marquette)

Whatever this guy put into his Wheaties during his redshirt year should be marketed widely. When was the last time a first-year player went from obscure prep (No. 68 on the gurus' list as a senior) to immediate college stardom by not playing? If this isn't a world record, it should be.

Watch Wade crouch on defense, then snap like a cat--wham!--diving to knock the ball out of an opponent's hand? Watch him rise--and rise, and rise some more--on dunks and rebounds, hanging around the stratosphere like no one since Air.

The Michael Jordan comparisons are, for once, apt. Wade led the 26-7 Golden Eagles in scoring (17.8), rebounding (6.6), steals (2.2), assists (3.4), and blocks (1.1).

POWER FORWARD

Mike Sweetney (6'8" junior, Georgetown)

Nothing's sweet about Sweetney when he's on the hardwood. This otherwise gentle 260-pound giant, kind of a bigger and better version of Maryland's Lonny Baxter last year, is the type of throwback who puts the "power" into "power forward."

"Sweet is a power guy in the sense that he plays big," Georgetown coach Craig Esherick says. Huge, actually: 19.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last year, without the benefit of a pass-first guard.

Sweetney has sticky mitts, shockingly nimble feet, all the inside moves, and a heart that simply "makes him go nonstop," Esherick says. The only thing that's raft about Sweet is his touch, and it's hard not to love his type of work ethic: Sweetney made the third-biggest jump in free-throw shooting percentage in the nation last season, improving from 61.9% to 78.8%.