I didn't know the NCAA awards were this expansive...until my school's best player earned one of these awards. The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award goes to the nation's best player under 6'0 tall. All hail Tre' Kelley.
Basketball | Kelley earns ‘little’ honor
Frances Naismith award goes to nation's best male player who stands 6-feet or shorter
By Seth Emerson
The State
Tre' Kelley can add his name to a list of "little man" award-winners that includes some big names.The USC guard won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith award, given to the nation's best college basketball player who is 6 feet tall or shorter. The award, which has been given annually since 1969, is sponsored by the Basketball Hall of Fame and named after the daughter-in-law of James Naismith.
Past winners include Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues (1987), Tim Hardaway (1989) and Tyus Edney, who helped lead UCLA to the national title before winning the 1995 award. Jameer Nelson, Nate Robinson and Dee Brown the past three winners ח play in the NBA, as do previous winners Brevin Knight (1997) and Earl Boykins (1998).
"Those are great names to come behind," Kelley said. "Those guys I've looked up to in the past, looked for different moves, different skills and different things they do on the basketball court."
The senior is the first SEC player to receive the men's version of the award and the first from a South Carolina school. He was selected by a panel from the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
"In my mind, it was a landslide," USC coach Dave Odom said. "The Pomeroy Naismith award panel saw, I think, what we saw for four years, which was a terrific basketball player who has gotten better each and every year."
Kelley also was announced as one of four finalists for the Chip Hilton award, which combines on-court performance and character. The other finalists are Acie Law of Texas A&M, Alando Tucker of Wisconsin and Adam Haluska of Iowa.
The nine-man selection committee for the Chip Hilton award includes Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, former North Carolina coach Dean Smith, former Big East commissioner Dave Gavitt and analysts Jay Bilas, Billy Packer and Dick Vitale.
Kelley was a first-team All-SEC pick by both The Associated Press and the coaches after averaging 18.9 points and 5.1 assists per game. The Gamecocks finished 14-16, their first losing record since the 2003-04 season.
Kelley was hobbled for nearly two months with a right knee injury, and he had surgery on Saturday. The timetable for his return to basketball is four to six weeks, so he will miss next week's Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational, an NBA tryout camp that teammate Brandon Wallace is set to attend. The NBA draft is in late June.
"I'm going through therapy every day. I'm doing what I'm told from the doctors and from the trainers and everybody I have to deal with it on that," Kelley said. "I'm just trying to move along every day."
-Courtesy of GoGamecocks.com
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