UK alum Tom Leach has been the play-by-play “Voice of the Wildcats” for the football Cats for 12 years and nine years for men’s basketball. He is a four-time winner of the Kentucky Sportscaster of the Year award. Tom offers an entertaining and insightful perspective into UK athletics. Column entries will be posted twice per week through April. Read Tom’s full biography

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“He always makes the right decisions and the right plays to win the game.”

That’s what Magic Johnson said about John Wall, when talking to a group of reporters during his visit to Rupp Arena. Johnson was always all about winning and thus he not only elevated his game but the games of those around him.. Therefore, that gives his analysis extra weight and to me, it’s the best way to make the case for Wall to be the first-ever Kentucky Wildcat to win some or all of the major national player-of-the-year awards.

One of those awards is given out by the Associated Press, via a survey of print and broadcast media from all over the nation. Since he’s involved with the balloting, veteran AP college basketball writer Jim O’Connell did not want to make a pick but he did have some glowing comments about Wall’s game.

“First of all, John Wall is a once in a generation-type player. Just imagine if it was back in the days, how much fun it would be to see this guy stick around four years and see him grow and progress,”O’Connell told tomleachky.com.

Ultimately, O’Connell thinks Ohio State’s Evan Turner may get the edge over Wall for player-of-the-year because of the experience factor.

“You know we finally had a freshman win it when Kevin Durant won it. There had never been a freshman to get it. People used to talk and say freshman shouldn’t get it and it’s amazing in sports how something that’s said like that becomes a mantra for years to come. We finally broke that mold,” he noted. “I don’t think anyone does it with an overly prejudiced view but if you have two guys that are pretty even and there is a more senior guy, that we go that way.

It might not be something they do intentionally but that is in their minds that they are going to reward the older guys. So I think Turner might have a little bit of a lead right now but no one votes for our player of the year until the games are over on Selection Sunday so you get to see all the conference tournaments. If Turner has a big tournament and leads Ohio State up there or if Wall has a big SEC tournament, I can see people being in between. It should be a great race. The Big East people will tell you that Scotty Reynolds should be in there but he has kind of been on a slide the last few games. I think it is pretty much just Turner and Wall.”

Longtime college hoops writer Mike Decourcy of The Sporting News is one of those who will be casting some player of the year ballots and he’s leaning toward Turner.

“I think that John did a great job in the first half of the season to get such a huge lead and really extended it when Evan Turner was injured for six games and it seemed like, gosh, how can you come back from that. But he came back so well and he has been spectacular,” said Decourcy a couple of week back. “Right now my vote would go to Evan Turner and there isn’t any bigger fan of John Wall than me. I think he is fantastic and is as important of a player in college basketball.”

Decourcy says the freshman angle undoubtedly works against Wall with some voters.

“This is how some voters might see it–if it is Kevin Durant and he is just blowing everybody out of the water then you don’t have a problem giving it to a freshman. But if it is close, the tie might go to the upperclassman. That is not the case for me at all and if John would establish a lead again over Evan or if Evan were to falter then I would vote for John. It is very close for me.”

ESPN’s Andy Katz is thinking in a similar way.

“I’d probably lean a little more toward Evan Turner, because of what he means to Ohio State,” Katz told me a couple of weeks ago. “The supporting cast, while it’s solid, is not as the same as Kentucky’s. And the problem with Wall winning the award, you have to balance how good Cousins has been and you can make the argument that his value has been pretty close to John Wall. The two of them may negate each other (in the voting).”

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