PTL wrap-up: Observations

There were a couple of reasons why I was surprised when the annual Prime Time League awards were announced last night.

One, I was surprised with the awards because I agreed with all of the selections. For the MVP award I advocated for May, an Iowa sophomore, previously because of his all-around ability on the court. He joined Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe, who led the league in scoring and rebounding, as co-MVP.

Iowa sophomore Cully Payne joined Iowa junior Matt Gatens for the Chris Street Award, which is given to players who play the game the right way. It's obvious both players are making efforts to adapt to new Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery's uptempo style of play.

Iowa junior walk-on Jordan Stoermer earned top defender honors. Stoermer, an Iowa City West graduate who played at Kirkwood last year, will be a significant addition to the team this year. If I could offer McCaffery one piece of advice, it would be to put Stoermer on scholarship. He'll play a key role as a reserve the next two years, plus it disciplines Iowa's recruiting efforts. Stoermer's two seasons will end before the ultra-talented 2012 recruiting class is available for Iowa. If Stoermer is on scholarship next year, then there's no chance to risk a 2012 player by offering one a year too early.

Secondly, the timing was semi-bizarre. With 18.4 seconds left and Eric May approaching the free-throw line, PTL Director Randy Larson stopped the game and selected the awards. Larson, in an e-mail this morning, said he didn't want to do it before the game or at halftime because he didn't want the recipients to be affected afterward. Likewise, he didn't want to do it after the game because nobody would hear it.  Maybe there's no perfect time, I don't know.

If I were to select all-PTL teams, they would look like this:

FIRST TEAM: G -- Cully Payne (Iowa), Matt Gatens (Iowa); F -- Eric May (Iowa), Melsahn Basabe (Iowa), Chip Rank (UNI)

SECOND TEAM: G -- Ali Faraokhmanesh (ex-UNI), Matt Morrison (UNI), Jordan Stoermer (Iowa); F -- Zach McCabe (Iowa), Dain Swetella (Spanish pro)