Ah yes, it’s tournament time, which means it’s time for college kids you wouldn’t otherwise know to become household names for a few weeks. You know? Something like the Stephen Curry wave of popularity, something he derived from being able to shoot a basketball better than most. One player poised to fill Curry’s shoes is Ohio State Buckeyes stud, Evan Turner.

Yes, even though Turner’s probably college basketball’s Player of the Year — thanks in large part to this exclamation point — outside of the hardcore basketball heads and Ohio State fans, your average Joe would, in all likelihood, respond with a quizzical “Who?” if you started talking about how awesome a player he is. Thanks to the Big Dance, and provided the Buckeyes can survive the opening weekend, any ignorance concerning Turner should be cleared up by the time the first weekend of the tournament is over.

Of course, if folks like President Obama continue to namedrop Turner, it might not take that long before he becomes a trendy topic outside of the normal college basketball circles.

I’m all about some Evan Turner today. Granted, the rest of the college basketball world shares the same sentiment — save Michigan fans — but even they have to acknowledge undefended greatness. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, there are so many different versions, it borders on recursion. After the jump, I’ll share some of them.

As for Turner, today’s shot is really close to the explanation point he needs to wrestle the Player of the Year award away from Kentucky’s John Wall. Interestingly enough, Turner was only 3-12 from inside the 3-point arc against Michigan; however, he was 3-3 when he shot from behind it. All the college basketball betting fans who bet on this team, would have turned their cash into gold!

Obviously, none of the three were bigger than that last one.

It’s not easy being a bubble team where your very postseason life lives and dies by your in-game performances. I can imagine life in such a pressure cooker would have its disadvantages, especially when the team you coach gets their collective asses handed to them by conference rival Wisconsin. Just ask Bruce Weber, head coach of Illinois, and perhaps his best player, Demetri McCamey.

McCamey committed a silly foul during the Wisconsin beatdown, and when he headed back to the bench, he tried to avoid Weber’s wrath.

Bad move.

Now that the 2009/10 college basketball season is over, it’s time to hand out some awards. Who are the All-Americans? What about Freshman of the Year? How about Coach of the Year? Most, if not all, of these questions will be answered within the next couple of weeks.

While the All-American list might be a toss-up between 10 or so players, there’s one category that has two definitive nominees in John Wall and Evan Turner.

Sure, players like Robbie Hummel and Scottie Reynolds might deserve mention here as well, but most of the conventional wisdom concerning this season is focusing on these two players, and truth be told, when you look at each player’s resume, it looks like a photo finish is in the works.

Here’s an early peak at which way the consensus is leaning: