Love up for Player of the Year honors, and an apology

Bruin freshman center Kevin Love is one of four finalists for the 2008 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Award, selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and presented by AT&T. Love, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis and Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina make up the final ballot.

The trophy will be awarded during the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game awards program April 6 at the 2008 Men’s Final Four in San Antonio. CBS will feature the winner during halftime of its coverage of the NCAA Men’s Championship game on Monday, April 7.

Fan voting will comprise 25% of the selection process. According to AT&T, "Fans can text message "VOTE" to "87654" to receive the final ballot and participate in the voting process. Voting for the Naismith Trophy College Basketball Player of the Year will end on Saturday, April 5, 2008, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. AT&T is making the voting open to other wireless carriers allowing even more fans to participate. Other wireless carriers must opt-in for their subscribers to participate."

Also of interest:

>> A letter in the March 24 edition of Sports Illustrated worth noting:

"I was shocked to see, in a photo of the Oregon student section, my son partaking in the harassment of UCLA’s Kevin Love. When he came home the following weekend, his car was taken away and he headed back to school on a bus. I am embarrassed and wish to apologize to Kevin and his family," from Armando Navarro of Clackamas, Oregon.

Given the unrepentant attitude of The Pit Crew and the tepid response of the Oregon athletic department, which acted on the anti-Love taunts after the game, plenty of Bruin fans will be shocked -– and pleased -– to see that at least one family in Oregon didn’t approve of this behavior.