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By JIM O'CONNELL, AP Basketball Writer

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SAN ANTONIO - Tyler Hansbrough, who topped the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring and rebounding and led North Carolina to the Final Four, was selected The Associated Press college basketball player of the year Friday.

The 6-foot-9 junior forward averaged 22.8 points, the highest mark by a North Carolina player since 1970, and 10.3 rebounds for the Tar Heels (36-2), who were ranked No. 1 for all but six weeks this season and were the overall top seed for the NCAA tournament.

Hansbrough was presented the award the day before the Tar Heels play Kansas in the second game of the Final Four.

He received 56 votes from the 72-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. Freshman Michael Beasley of Kansas State had 15 votes and junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis got one in the voting conducted before the NCAA tournament. Hansbrough and Beasley both were unanimous selections as first-team All-Americans.

Hansbrough lived up to his advance billing this season — he was one vote shy of being a unanimous pick for the preseason All-America team.

Known for his all-out hustle and physical style of play, Hansbrough led the Tar Heels with 57 steals and was credited with drawing 42 charges from opponents. He was chosen the MVP of the ACC tournament and the NCAA's East Regional, where he led the Tar Heels to their 17th Final Four appearance.

Hansbrough, second on the North Carolina career scoring list with 2,151 points, 139 behind Phil Ford, joins Michael Jordan (1984) and Antawn Jamison (1998) as national players of the year from North Carolina. The last two players to lead the ACC in scoring and rebounding in the same season, Tim Duncan of Wake Forest in 1997 and Jamison, were national players of the year.

Players from the Atlantic Coast Conference have won the award eight times in the last 14 years.

Freshman Kevin Durant of Texas was the player of the year last season. He was the second overall pick in the NBA draft.

Jan. 11, 2008

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By Adam Lucas

For Bobby Frasor, the reality of his season-ending knee injury doesn't hit him when the Tar Heels are on the floor. He's watched every game in a suit from the sidelines since he tore his ACL against Nevada on Dec. 27, but feels the postgame is more difficult than the actual game.

"When you're watching the game, it isn't that hard because you're into it and it's fun," he says. "You can see things differently than when you're on the court, and you get a better sense for how the team is playing than when you're part of it.

"But the hardest part is after the game. Everyone is joking around, laughing, and talking about specific plays. I remember being part of that and now I really have nothing to say other than, `Good job in the game.'"

In reality, the talkative Frasor rarely limits himself to just, "Good game." Surry Wood, his usual seatmate on the Tar Heel bench, recently turned to him mid-game after listening to Frasor dissect the action and said, "You have the voice of a coach."

But since stepping into the passing lane against the Wolf Pack--part of a defensive effort that resulted in him winning the coaches' defensive player of the game award--planting his left foot, and feeling his knee move in a way it had never moved before, Frasor has gone through a wide range of emotions.

"It was devastating to know my season was over," he says. "For the first few hours, I wasn't really thinking about what I would do or even what the team would do. I didn't want to talk to anyone about it."

Soon, however, his tight-knit family--and the Carolina Basketball family--began to pull him out of his funk. His parents, Bob and Donna, have been courtside regulars over the past three seasons and will be in Chapel Hill on Monday when Frasor undergoes surgery at UNC. And his oldest sister, a physical therapist, was in town immediately after the injury and has assisted with research into rehabilitation possibilities. <!-- STORY AD BEGINS HERE -->

<!-- STORY AD ENDS HERE -->He's also received numerous notes of support from Tar Heel fans, all of which have been read and appreciated. Sometimes, words of wisdom even come from unexpected sources. Valparaiso head coach Homer Drew, who watched Frasor play frequently in high school, pulled him aside when the two teams met in December.

"Coach Drew said his daughter, who is playing overseas, had the same injury," Frasor says. "He said there were times he saw her in tears trying to bend her knee with the therapist. Everyone says rehab will be a pain, but the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. I plan to give my all, just like I do in any workout, and be back sooner than expected."

Doctors say those expectations are for an approximately six-month recovery period, meaning Frasor would be back at full strength in time for preseason conditioning. That would be his senior year, but plans are already being made for an appeal to the NCAA for a Medical Hardship Waiver.

Three conditions must be met for a waiver case to be open and shut:

1. The injury must be incapacitating (Frasor easily meets this one)

2. It has to occur in the first half of the season (Again, no problem)

3. The injury must occur before the student-athlete participates in more than 30 percent of his team's scheduled games. Number three, obviously, is the part that must be appealed, and the appeal can't be filed until the end of the season. The way the NCAA counts games, the Tar Heels are slated to play 32 games this year (the NCAA Tournament doesn't count). Frasor played in 12, meaning he appeared in 38 percent of Carolina's games. By NCAA math, he could have appeared in 10 games and remained under the 30 percent threshold (the NCAA rounds up 9.6 to 10).

So two games are at issue. To admittedly prejudiced Carolina fans, that might sound like a tiny figure. But the NCAA makes rules for a reason, and all involved acknowledge that the chances of receiving the medical redshirt are slim. UNC has had some success with hardship situations in the past for football--Skip Seagraves and Brian Chacos each received an extra year on the gridiron--but those were different situations in which the players lost two of their five mandated seasons to injury and needed to appeal the NCAA's five-year eligibility clock for a sixth year of competition.

Despite the bleak outlook for an additional season, Frasor remains remarkably philosophical about his fortunes.

"This isn't a tragedy," he says. "Jonas (Sahratian) gave me a quote: `Champions don't make comebacks, they overcome setbacks.' That's been in my head ever since. This is an opportunity for me to get my whole body in tune. I'm planning to have the best year of my career next season."

Congressman Ron Paul is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution.In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the “one exception to the Gang of 535” on Capitol Hill.

Ron Paul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s. He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical practice in Brazoria County. As a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies. He and Carol, who reside in Lake Jackson, Texas, are the proud parents of five children and have 17 grandchildren.

While serving in Congress during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. Paul’s limited-government ideals were not popular in Washington. In 1976, he was one of only four Republican congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan for president.

During that time, Congressman Paul served on the House Banking committee, where he was a strong advocate for sound monetary policy and an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve’s inflationary measures. He was an unwavering advocate of pro-life and pro-family values. Dr. Paul consistently voted to lower or abolish federal taxes, spending and regulation, and used his House seat to actively promote the return of government to its proper constitutional levels. In 1984, he voluntarily relinquished his House seat and returned to his medical practice.

Dr. Paul returned to Congress in 1997 to represent the 14th congressional district of Texas. He presently serves on the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He continues to advocate a dramatic reduction in the size of the federal government and a return to constitutional principles.

Congressman Paul’s consistent voting record prompted one of his congressional colleagues to say, “Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers’ ideal of the citizen-statesman. He makes it clear that his principles will never be compromised, and they never are.” Another colleague observed, “There are few people in public life who, through thick and thin, rain or shine, stick to their principles. Ron Paul is one of those few.”

Just wanted to check this out.  CBS has made huge strides in the past year to try and beef up this site. Some things have been good and others bad.  Tommy like wingy!!  Go Heels!!!