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Pac-10 Basketball Player of the Year: James Harden

Arizona State sophomore James Harden, the leading scorer in the Pac-10, has been named the conference’s Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-5 swingman becomes the third sophomore to earn the honor as well as the third player from Arizona State to win it. Harden, who is averaging 20.8 points per game and has led the Sun Devils to a 22-8 overall record, was selected for the second consecutive year to the All-Pac-10 First Team, which was voted upon by the coaches and was announced Monday as part of the league’s annual awards.

Besides leading the Pac-10 in scoring, Harden is ranked 13 th in the conference in rebounding (with 5.4 per game), eighth in assists (at 4.1 per contest) and second in steals (with 1.7 per game). He has scored 20 or more points in 16 games this season.

Harden’s career-high output of 40 points against Texas-El Paso on Nov. 30 is the most scored by any Pac-10 player in a game this season. His 36-point performance Feb. 5 at Oregon ranks as the highest total posted in a conference game this winter.

Harden joins California’s Jason Kidd (1994) and Arizona’s Mike Bibby (1998) as the only sophomores to be chosen for the annual award as the league’s top player. He follows Eddie House (2000) and Ike Diogu (2005) as Pac-10 Player of the Year selections from Arizona State.

Harden is joined on the All-Pac-10 First Team by his Sun Devil teammate Jeff Pendergraph, a senior power forward who is ranked first in the nation with a .665 field goal percentage. Arizona juniors Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill also were named to the conference’s First Team.

Pendergraph is averaging 14.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for ASU, which finished 11-7 in the Pac-10, tied for third with California. The Sun Devils are the fourth seed in this week’s Pac-10 Tournament at Staples Center in Los Angeles, where they will play fifth-seeded Arizona in a quarterfinal game at noon Pacific time on Thursday.

The Wildcats (19-12, 9-9) have been led all season by Hill and Budinger, both of whom are averaging more than 18 points per game.

Hill, a 6-foot-10 power forward and center, is ranked second in the Pac-10 in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 18.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest. Hill, who was named to the All-Pac-10 Defensive Team as well as the All-Conference First Team, also ranks second in the league with 1.9 blocked shots per contest.

Budinger, a 6-foot-7 wing, has averaged 18.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game this season for Arizona.

Nic Wise, the third member of the Wildcats’ Big Three, was selected to the All-Pac-10 Second Team. Wise, a 5-foot-10 junior point guard, is averaging 15.0 points and 4.6 assists per game.

The Pac-10 coaches decided last spring to restructure the All-Conference classifications. In changing the former procedure of picking three teams with five players each, the coaches now select a 10-player First Team and a five-player Second Team.

Joining Harden, Pendergraph, Hill and Budinger on the First Team are Washington seniors Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon (who helped lead the Huskies to the conference championship), UCLA senior Darren Collison, California juniors Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher, and Washington State senior Taylor Rochestie.

Dentmon was named the conference’s Most Improved Player, while his Washington teammate Isaiah Thomas was selected as Freshman of the Year. Huskies head coach Lorenzo Romar was honored as Pac-10 Coach of the Year after guiding UW to a 14-4 conference record (24-7 overall).

USC junior Taj Gibson was picked as Defensive Player of the Year.

Here is the complete list of conference awards for 2008-09.

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ALL-PAC-10 FIRST TEAM

Jon Brockman, Washington, 6-foot-7 senior forward

Chase Budinger, Arizona, 6-7 junior forward/guard

Patrick Christopher, California, 6-5 junior guard

Darren Collison, UCLA, 6-0 senior guard

Justin Dentmon, Washington, 5-11 senior guard

James Harden, Arizona State, 6-5 sophomore guard/forward

Jordan Hill, Arizona, 6-10 junior forward/center

Jeff Pendergraph, Arizona State, 6-9 senior forward

Jerome Randle, California, 5-10 junior guard

Taylor Rochestie, Washington State, 6-1 senior guard

SECOND TEAM

Taj Gibson, USC, 6-9 junior forward

Daniel Hackett, USC, 6-5 junior guard

Josh Shipp, UCLA, 6-5 senior guard/forward

Isaiah Thomas, Washington, 5-8 freshman guard

Nic Wise, Arizona, 5-10 junior guard

Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Alfred Aboya (UCLA, senior center/forward), Anthony Goods (Stanford, senior guard), Calvin Haynes (Oregon State, sophomore guard), Lawrence Hill (Stanford, senior forward), Roeland Schaftenaar (Oregon State, junior forward/center)

PAC-10 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

DeAngelo Casto, Washington State, 6-8 forward

DeMar DeRozan, USC, 6-7 forward

Jeremy Green, Stanford, 6-4 guard

Jrue Holiday, UCLA, 6-3 guard

Isaiah Thomas, Washington, 5-8 guard

Klay Thompson, Washington State, 6-6 guard

Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Kyle Fogg (Arizona, guard)

PAC-10 ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Alfred Aboya, UCLA, 6-9 senior center/forward

Darren Collison, UCLA, 6-0 senior guard

Taj Gibson, USC, 6-9 junior forward

Daniel Hackett, USC, 6-5 junior guard

Jordan Hill, Arizona, 6-10 junior forward/center

Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Venoy Overton (Washington, sophomore guard), Jeff Pendergraph (Arizona State, senior forward), Seth Tarver (Oregon State, junior guard/forward)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR : James Harden, Arizona State

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR : Isaiah Thomas, Washington

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR : Taj Gibson, USC

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER : Justin Dentmon, Washington

COACH OF THE YEAR : Lorenzo Romar, Washington

By Tom Kessler
Pac-10 Correspondent