Tyler Zeller was named the co-Most Valuable Player at the University of North Carolina basketball team awards ceremony. Yes, Kendall Marshall was the sparkplug that made the engine run but Zeller was the engine this year. It’s kind of a cop out to give the award to two players. If Marshall were a senior, like Zeller, I could see giving both MVP awards. But there should be consequences to leaving school early and this should have been one of them. Zeller was the MVP of the ACC but only shared his own team’s MVP to a player who left the team early and didn’t make the first team ACC.

Zeller was the man for Carolina and, again, being that he was the senior, he should have been named the sole team MVP.

Now, Marshall should have made first team but he didn’t. Marshall, a sophomore from Dumfries, Va., set an Atlantic Coast Conference record with 351 assists, the fourth-highest total in NCAA history. Zeller, a senior from Washington, Ind., averaged 16.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game and led the Tar Heels in field goal percentage at .553.

Zeller also shared the team’s top defensive honor with junior forward John Henson. Zeller was named Carolina’s defensive player of the game a team-high 12 times and led the squad with 26 drawn charges. Henson led the ACC in blocked shots with 101, the third-highest single-season figure in school history.

Zeller and fellow senior Justin Watts were voted permanent co-captains. Other award winners included James Michael McAdoo, who was voted the most improved player and the freshman whobest exemplified determination, sportsmanship and sacrifice for the team (the Butch Bennett Award). Watts was voted the team’s most inspirational player.

2012 UNC Basketball Award Winners
Most Valuable Players: Kendall Marshall, Tyler Zeller
Mary Frances Andrews Award, Highest Field Goal Percentage: Tyler Zeller
Martha Jordan Award, Highest Free Throw Percentage: P.J. Hairston
Foy Roberson Award, Most Inspirational: Justin Watts
Carmichael-Cobb Award, Top Defender: John Henson, Tyler Zeller
John Lotz Award, Most Assists: Kendall Marshall
Oscar Vatz Award, Best Rebounder: John Henson
Butch Bennett Award: James Michael McAdoo
Jimmie Dempsey Award, Most Improved: James Michael McAdoo
Team Captains: Justin Watts, Tyler Zeller
Senior Awards: Stewart Cooper, Patrick Crouch, David Dupont, Justin Watts, Tyler Zeller
Athletic Director’s Burgess McSwain Scholar-Athlete Award: Tyler Zeller