John Walters

NEW YORK - Of course you need talented guard play come March — someone has to organize the pre-game lay-up line. In the next week you'll hear no shortage of prognosticators — and, by default, amateur-gnosticators — hammer the importance of guard play in the NCAA Tournament into your skull. They'll talk over a montage of D.J. Augustin, Derrick Rose, Ty Lawson, Darren Collison and a dude who looks alarmingly like one of the co-defendants from "A Few Good Men" (that would be Drew Neitzel).

Guard play is important. This season, though, the big men on campus have been, well, the big men on campus.

And one of the bigger names, not to mention one of the bigger people, in college hoops broadcasting happens to agree with me.

"The idea that guards win in March has become cliché," says ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who played in the 1986 NCAA championship game as Duke's 6-10 center. "It's like saying that in the NFL you need a great quarterback. Well, pardon my French, but no (shizzle). But when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, who took the blame? It wasn’t Tom Brady."

Exactly. Bilas cites everyone's favorite Cinderella of two years ago, George Mason, as an example. "Everybody talks about how George Mason got to the Final Four with timely three-point shooting," says Bilas. "George Mason got to the Final Four because of their big guys."

I know what you're thinking: George Mason had bigs? Well, the Patriots' tallest starter, 6-7 forward Will Thomas, had 12 rebounds against Connecticut in the East regional final. That was five more than any Huskies player. GMU outrebounded a UConn squad with two future NBA big men (Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone) by four. Sometimes it's enough to simply play big.

The NCAA's best freshman and its top player this season (who may or may not be the same person, depending upon whom you ask) is a big. Chances are that the Most Valuable Player in the ACC, Big 12, Big East and Pac-10 will be a big — and if Greg Oden had remained in Columbus, in the Big Ten as well.

It's time to give some big love to big Love (that would be Kevin) and his low-post peers. To a group of double-double performers, including a duo who even are doubles of each other. To those whose abundance of HGH comes naturally, not McNamee. And I'll do that with a little help from big Mr. Bilas.

The Phenom: Michael  Beasley, Kansas State
The 6-9 freshman is only a college student because Mr. Stern decrees it so. Beasley, only 19, leads the nation in rebounding (12.6 per game) and is third in scoring at 26.9 ppg. Considering that the two players ahead of Beasley, Reggie Williams of Virginia Military Institute and Niagara's Charron Fisher, lead by less than one point per game (27.8) and have not played four Top 25 teams, Beasley's stats are even more astounding.

"You know, Beasley, he's the best player," says Bilas. He means among the nation's big men, but this season that equates to overall. "He's just an incredibly productive scorer. A great finisher. He has range on his jumper, but he can beat you off the dribble as well."

Seriously, where was the learning curve with this frosh? He had 32 points and 24 rebounds in his college debut against Sacramento State. And he does not fade in the spotlight, having scored 39 and grabbed 11 boards versus No. 4 Kansas last Saturday.

Only two players in NCAA history (Xavier McDaniel and Hank Gathers) have led the nation in both scoring and rebounding in the same season. Both were upperclassmen and neither played in a major conference as Beasley does. Are you watching a player as talented as last year's Big 12 MVP, Kevin Durant? That is debatable. But what you are watching, considering the numbers that Beasley is posting, is hoops history.

The Prodigy: Kevin Love, UCLA
How do you enter college basketball's most storied program, with starters who have been to the last two Final Fours, and instantly become the team's most indispensable player? Love is the answer.

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The 6-10 freshman, son of former NBA player Stan Love (and yes, nephew of Beach Boy Mike Love), has absolutely embraced all things Wooden and Westwood. With his G.I. Joe haircut and burly physique, Love looks as if he belongs on the "A-Team" as well as the UCLA team. But that brawn belies a mental acuity and passer's touch reminiscent of UCLA's last great post player, Bill Walton.

"Love is the best passer of the group," says Bilas, and anyone who saw the dish he made to teammate Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, while surrounded by a trio of Cardinal defenders during the Bruins' 77-67 overtime win versus No. 7 Stanford on Thursday night, would be inclined to agree. "He probably has the best mind for the game, too."

Bilas worked with Love during summer instructional camps and came away impressed. "He has a great aptitude for the game," says Bilas, who should know. "He's legit. You know, we throw around that word 'expert' too freely. As many people as there are who claim to know what they're doing, so few do. Kevin Love does not have that problem."

Love is one of only two players in the Pac-10 — perhaps the nation's best conference; eight teams have winning records — averaging a double-double (the other being Washington forward Jon Brockman). On a squad with two returning starters from last spring's Final Four team, Love is pacing the Bruins in both scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (11.1).

Will Love return to campus next season? It may just depend on whether UCLA advances to its third consecutive Final Four.

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