Battier adds Naismith to résumé

The awards keep piling up for senior forward Shane Battier. After being named a first-team Academic All-American, snatching the ACC tournament's Most Valuable Player award and capturing multiple national honors in recent weeks, Battier garnered the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year award Tuesday. Battier succeeds last year's winner Kenyon Martin, a forward from Cincinnati. The honor was bestowed upon Duke's senior by a panel of prestigious coaches, journalists and administrators organized by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club. As the recipient of this year's award, Battier becomes the fifth Duke player to be recognized with this distinguished accomplishment, joining such Blue Devil greats as Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner and Elton Brand. However, Battier is the only Duke player-and for that matter, the only Naismith recipient ever-to have been honored by the Tip-Off Club twice, as he won the high school player of the year accolade as a senior at Detroit Country Day School. "I am very honored to receive the Naismith Award," Battier said in a statement Tuesday. "I am proud of the fact that I hold high standards for myself both on the court and in the classroom. It is a tremendous honor to be mentioned with some of the great players who have previously earned this prestigious award, including several from Duke." News of the award came only hours after he, his teammates and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski held a pre-NCAA tournament press conference last Tuesday. Battier's performance in the ACC tournament-where he was named the tourney's most valuable player-was among the major topics of discussion for Krzyzewski. Krzyzewski praised his senior tri-captain for a record-breaking Duke career, which has included 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 200 blocks, 200 assists and 200 total steals. "When a player comes into the league, he has an opportunity to win 76 ACC games, if he wins every regular season and every tournament game. Shane just finished his ACC career and he's won 69," Krzyzewski said. "He's been the consummate winner and he does what he needs to do to help us win in every way. That's why he's already won a lot of national player of the year awards, and nobody deserves that more." As one of 15 finalists for the Naismith Award, Battier had some very stiff competition. However, the Duke senior was one of only a handful of fourth-year players up for the honor; Battier was accompanied on the ballot by veterans Brendan Haywood of North Carolina, Troy Murphy of Notre Dame and Terence Morris of Maryland. In fact, a majority of the finalists were underclassmen, highlighted by an impressive trio of sophomores consisting of Duke's Jason Williams, North Carolina guard Joseph Forte and Michigan State forward Jason Richardson. Although the Naismith Award is generally considered among the most prestigious of individual accolades that college basketball players can receive, the Wooden Award has yet to be handed out. The Wooden Award, voted on by sportswriters from across the country, will be issued after the conclusion of the NCAA tournament.