Seniors honored at banquet
■ Alex Scales, Darius
Wright and A.D. Smith
share co-MVP as the
Ducks celebrate season
Basketball Notes
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
In a night filled with laughter,
hugs and tears, the Oregon men’s
basketball team capped a banner
season with the annual awards
banquet on Monday night at the
Eugene Hilton Hotel.
In front of a large gathering of
family, friends, workers and
alumni, the Ducks handed out
their postseason awards, and
honored the teams three dedicat
ed seniors.
In a vote that was cast by the
players themselves, seniors Alex
Scales, A.D. Smith and Darius
Wright were selected as co-Most
Valuable Players.
Head coach Ernie Kent proud
ly presented each individual
with their awards after the trio
helped the program capture its
most wins in 55 years. A year
ago, both Scales and Wright were
also voted co-MVP.
It marked only the third time
that players shared the honor,
with Doug Little and Ron Lee be
ing the first to do so back in
1973.
Eugene-native Smith, who
easily had the most family with
him, won the Academic Award
as well as the Harry Ritchie
Scholar Athlete Award.
Assistant coach Greg Graham
then presented the John Warren
Most Inspirational Player Award,
which surprised many in atten
dance — including the recipient.
Junior guard Kristian Chris
tensen, who played in only two
games but provided an emotion
al lift throughout the season with
his positive attitude, received
the award.
Other players earning acco
lades were sophomore guard An
thony Norwood as the Jesse
Nash Most Improved Player and
Wright as the Best De
fender.
Norwood was the
perfect choice after
starting his first season
at Oregon slowly, be
fore becoming a key
contributor off the
bench late in the sea
son. He tallied a total of 20
points against Oregon State and
Seton Hall. His performance
against the Pirates in the NCAA
Tournament was perhaps his
best of the year, as he scored
seven points in a three-minute
stretch to push the game into
overtime.
But aside from the personal
distinctions, Monday night was
about celebrating a season, a
team and a community.
The Master of Ceremonies for
the evening was radio announc
er — a.k.a. “Voice of the Ducks”
— Jerry Allen. In a speech to the
crowd, Allen showed true emo
tion in asking the team to sign a
basketball for him. He said in his
13 years of broadcasting Oregon
athletics, he had never come
across a team that was this “spe
cial.”
The night also included senior
speeches, in which Scales,
Wright and Smith spoke to the
onlookers. Smith went first and
had the crowd at his mercy in
his lengthy goodbye that includ
ed tributes to past and present
teammates and coaches. He told
humorous behind-the-scenes
stories, and genuinely thanked
everyone for their love and sup
port through the years.
While Smith’s speech kept go
ing, Scales and Wright produced
a few laughs when they sat
down on the steps of the
stage, while waiting for
their turn.
Scales, who admits he
doesn’t talk much, also
showed his comedic side
when he whispered into
the microphone to ask
everyone to tell Kent to change
his flat-top hairstyle.
But then he whispered even
softer with a smile, “But don’t
tell him I told you that.”
One of the highlights of the
banquet was the season highlight
video narrated by Allen and or
chestrated to the tune of current
hip-hop favorites.
The night concluded with
Kent’s closing remarks. The
coach expressed his gratitude to
everyone and his excitement for
next season.
A season in which he adds a
recruiting class that was ranked
number one in the West.
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