With conference play already winding down (less than three weeks ’till Selection Sunday!), a lively debate has begun about who is deserving of National Player of the Year. While perimeter players like Tennessee’s Chris Lofton and Davidson’s Stephen Curry (if you haven’t seen him play, do it) can make an argument, it’s essentially a two-man race: Kansas State’s freshman phenom and North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough.

Beasley follows in the footsteps of last year’s star freshmen, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. There’s little doubt he’ll be going pro after this year, and there’s little doubt that he’ll be the first pick in June’s NBA Draft. Beasley and freshman teammate Bill Walker have quickly put Kansas State back on the national stage. Over the weekend, he set a Big 12 record with 44 points, upping his scoring average to 26 points to go with 12 rebounds a game. Both of those marks are higher than Durant’s averages last year.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to see Beasley on national television as much as we saw Durant, largely because Kansas State games don’t air very often. Last month’s upset over Kansas (a win Beasley guaranteed before the season) wasn’t televised nationally. For those who haven’t seen him play, tonight’s game at Texas will be broadcast on ESPN.

Beasley’s biggest competitor in the National Player of the Year debate is Hansbrough, the psychotic white boy from Chapel Hill. Hansbrough’s physical abilities can’t compare with Beasley’s, but his determination sure can. If it’s possible for the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder to be “scrappy” and “feisty,” Hansbrough would fit that description.

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Two months ago, Nick Saban quit on the Miami Dolphins to assume the coaching position at the University of Alabama. Because of that, we called his traitor ass out. And now, even Saban’s prick antics have been outdone. Kansas State coach Bob Huggins has resigned after just one season to take over the job at West Virginia. He returns to his birthplace of Morgantown and his alma mater. But he did it in the least graceful way imaginable.

“Bob Huggins did a terrific job during his short tenure to put Kansas State back on the basketball map, and we appreciate his efforts. It’s a shame that he has decided not to finish the job he started here,” said athletic director Tim Weiser.

Huggins has betrayed a couple groups of people. Obviously, he’s betrayed the Kansas State Basketball family. They swooped him up after he had been out of coaching a year. They looked past his recruiting violations, his DUI, his massive heart attack because they knew the guy could coach. In his first year, Kansas State went 23-12 with a 10-6 Big 12 record. Finally, they looked like a program on the rise. But with Huggins skipping town on them, they’re left with instability and lots of angry recruits.

Huggins’ name was a huge reason for very good recruits coming to Manhattan. In the past, they would have chosen to play for the hated Kansas Jayhawks. Huggins lured a five star center Jason Bennett into town this season. He then assembled one of the best recruiting classes in the nation for 2007. Five star studs Michael Beasley and Bill Walker came to play for him. Now, the reason they came to Kansas State has gone to…West Virginia?

I’m sure Huggins had always dreamed of coaching for his alma mater. But this is absolute garbage. He could have taken this job five years ago but didn’t leave Cincinnati. So why did he stab Kansas State in the back? Because he’s a piece of crap, that’s why.