ATLANTA -- North Carolina's Joseph Forte and Brendan Haywood are among the finalists for the 2001 Naismith college basketball player of the year awards.
The finalists, announced Monday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, were selected by a national advisory board of coaches, journalists and administrators. The winners will be announced in Atlanta April 7.
The other finalists for the men's award include Charlie Bell and Jason Richardson of Michigan State, Jarron Collins and Casey Jacobson of Stanford, Troy Murphy of Notre Dame and Shane Battier and Jason Williams of Duke.
The finalists for the women's award include Svetlana Abrosimova, Sue Bird and Shea Ralph, all of Connecticut, twins Coco and Kelly Miller of Georgia and Tamika Catchings and Michelle Snow of Tennessee.
UNC Still No. 1
While North Carolina remained
No. 1 in The Associated Press poll for the second straight week Monday, two of college basketball's other premier programs re-entered the Top 25.
Kentucky and UCLA, both dropped from the rankings 11 weeks ago, came in this week at Nos. 22 and 24.
North Carolina (21-2), which extended the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games with victories against Wake Forest and Maryland last week, received 62 first-place votes and 1,742 points from the national media panel.