INDIANAPOLIS — Frank Kaminsky probably should have brought an extra suitcase along with him to the Final Four.
Wisconsin’s senior center was named the national player of the year by both the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association on Friday.
Kaminsky, the first player in program history to win either award, was presented with the USBWA’s Oscar Robertson Trophy during a news conference at Lucas Oil Stadium in the morning and was recognized by the AP in the afternoon.
“He’s everything that college basketball is supposed to be about,” said USBWA president Dana O’Neil, a writer for ESPN.com. “Great player, great person.”
Robertson was present for the USBWA presentation and congratulated Kaminsky, who is averaging 18.7 points and 8.0 rebounds and also leads the Badgers in assists and blocks, on his fantastic final season at UW.
“With all the competition … in the country today, I think it’s remarkable,” Robertson told Kaminsky, who is also a finalist for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy. “Keep on playing, keep on winning.”
Robertson, a star in college at Cincinnati and later in the NBA, was the first winner of the award in 1959 and went on to win it again the next season.
“”Times have really changed,” Robertson said. “When I won this award … all they did was send a letter to the university telling your athletic director that you won the award, and he would give you the letter.”
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Kaminsky, who’s not a big fan of doing interviews, probably would have preferred if the announcement was handled that way on Friday. But he humbly accepted the USBWA award while sitting at a dais that also included Robertson and UW coach Bo Ryan.
After Ryan spoke, Kaminsky thanked him for his kind words and support.
“It wasn’t always the nicest of things like he’s saying up here,” Kaminsky said, “but that really helped me.”
Ryan said Kaminsky’s teammates asked to be present for the announcement. They were seated together with UW assistant coaches and other team personnel and cheered for Kaminsky when the award was presented.
“The reason that a guy like Frank Kaminsky can get that kind of support is how he handles his teammates and how he handles his success,” Ryan said. “He’s one of a kind, I can tell you that.”
Sophomore forward Nigel Hayes asked the first question at the news conference. He wanted to know what it meant to win the award.
“It means a lot,” said Kaminsky, who will try to help lead the Badgers (35-3) past Kentucky (38-0) in a national semifinal on Saturday night. “It’s been a long journey. It wasn’t easy at times, but I just believed in the process and believed in myself and had a lot of people who also believed in me. They really pushed me. My teammates really helped me by making me a better player every day in practice. I’ve just got to be thankful to all the people who helped me.”
O’Neil pointed out that Kaminsky was an under-the-radar recruit coming out of Benet.
“You were being very nice when you said he was top 200,” Ryan told O’Neil. “Frank, I think it was 300. But it never mattered. He just came in and worked extremely hard.”
Kaminsky went from being a reserve his first two seasons to being the Badgers’ best player during the second half of his career. He capped it off with a better season than any other player in the nation.
“To this point, no one has come as far as Frank and we’re really happy that he decided to come back,” Ryan said. “He’s meant everything to this program.”