2021 Hoops Awards--Player of the Year

 I think we can all agree that the 2021 basketball season is over. I decided to wait on our 2021 Hoops Awards until after the Lynx season was over, and then the time got away from me. Better late than never.

Player of the Year

1. Chet Holmgren, Minnehaha Academy--heck, he was rated the #1 boy in the country. Hard not to honor that. He scored 21 ppg with 12 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks for a 20-1 team, unbeaten vs. Minnesota teams with wins over the AAAA champion Wayzata 70-63 and AA champion Waseca 94-66.

2. Karl Anthony Towns, Timberwolves--the Wolves once again underwhelmed, starting 7-24, then rallying under new coach Chris Finch at 16-25, still well under .500. But Towns just keeps on plugging away with 24 ppg, 9 boards and 4 assists and great shooting at 51-42-82%.

3. Gianna Kneepkens, Duluth Marshall--yeah, I know, Class AA. Nobody complained about Carlie Wagner playing in Class AA. Kneepkens scored 43 ppg with 13 boards and 6 assists. In the state tournament she scored a state record 67 points against Providence. 

4 (tie). Paige Bueckers, Connecticut, and Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga--OK, only once, ever, have I picked a player of the year who didn't play for a Minnesota team. That was Kevin McHale in his very best NBA season, when the Boston Celtics also happened to win the NBA title. Well, I gave serious consideration to Bueckers and Suggs this year. Bueckers was of course the first freshman ever to win player of the year honors in NCAA women's ball. And Suggs, of course, hit that half-court shot to send Gonzaga to the national championship game, among other things. Still, it takes a lot to get me to say that the Minnesota player of the year is not representing a Minnesota team, and there are sufficient candidates even in the relatively dismal year of 2021 to not say it now.

4. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves--some people thought Edwards was the Wolves MVP over Towns. He was the new toy, for sure, and gave the Wolves a dimension they haven't had since, ah, Andrew Wiggins? In any event, he averaged 22-5-4 and got totally jobbed out of the Rookie of the Year award.

5. Brooke Olson, UMD--you gotta be a geek to know about Brooke Olson but I'm up to it. Olson led the UMD women to the Northern Sun regular season and post-season titles, scoring 22 ppg with 8 rebounds.

6 (tie). Julia Bengtson, Becker, and Paige Meyer, Albany--2 super point guards who led their team to state titles. Bengtson the magician, the finesse girl; Meyer the bulldozer. Bengtson's numbers were 15-5-4-3, Meyer's were 20-8-9-4, but of course Bengtson had a vastly better supporting cast and that's the point. Bengtson made everybody better.

8. Maya Nnaji, Hopkins--OK, Nnaji may very well have been the best female high school player in the state but 1) Hopkins didn't win the title, and 2) Nnaji gets another chance this year. Her numbers were 19-6-2 and of course it came against the toughest competition in the state.

9. Marcus Carr, Gopher men--there was a time when Carr might have been the player of the year, but that was before the Gopher men went on the road. Remember when the Gophers beat rated Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan and was rated as high as #16. After that, they went into a major tailspin and finished 14-15 and 6-14 in the Big 10. Carr scored 19 ppg with 4 rebounds and 5 assists, but it was more like 24 ppg at home and 14 on the road.

10. Anthony Roberts, St. Cloud State--led the NSIC in scoring at 22 ppg and added 8 rebounds. 

In summary, the one player I considered for #1 aside from Holmgren (and Bueckers and Suggs) was Kneepkens. What she did was historic. 67 points! No girl has ever done that before. But Holmgren being the #1 recruit in the country is historic, too. Right now, today, Holmgren is averaging 13 ppg with 8 rebounds and shooting 61% at Gonzaga. Gonzaga is 13-2 and rated #2. Meanwhile, Kneepkens has worked her way into the starting lineup at Utah. She has now started 3 games and played in all 11 games, scoring 11 ppg with 48% shooting and 4 rebounds. The Utes are 8-3 and unranked. Advantage Holmgren, but Kneepkens will be a star in high D1 long after Holmgren has disappeared into the NBA.