March 30, 2012

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Creighton's Doug McDermott is the recipient of the 2012 Lute Olson National Player of the Year award.

McDermott finished the season averaging 22.9 points per game, a figure that ranks third nationally. His 801 points, 307 field goals and 48.6 percent accuracy from three-point range all were school records for a single-season.

"Doug McDermott is a special player," said Angela Lento, co-founder of CollegeInsider.com. "He's a great scorer, but he does so many other things to help his team win. He is the definition of winner."

The sophomore was also named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press, USBWA, NABC and ESPN.com, and a Second Team All-America by The Sporting News and CBSSports.com. He was one of four finalists for the Naismith Award. In early March he was named the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year, the first sophomore in the award's history to be honored.

The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player who has played at least two seasons with his respective team. Freshmen and first-year transfers can be named to the All-America team, but are not eligible to receive the Player of the Year honors.

The award is named in honor of coaching great Lute Olson, who won 780 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.

The award was presented at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in New Orleans, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.

2012 LUTE OLSON ALL-AMERICA TEAM