LaRon Dendy of Middle Tennessee State has been named the 2012 Sun Belt Player of the Year.

Joining Dendy on the All-Sun Belt First Team are Tony Mitchell of North Texas, Augustine Rubit of South Alabama, Chris Udofia of Denver and D'Andre Williams of Arkansas-Little Rock.

On the All-Sun Belt Second Team are Marcos Knight of Middle Tennessee State, Josh Brown of Louisiana-Lafayette, Denver's Brian Stafford, Will Neighbour of Arkansas-Little Rock and DeJuan Wright of Florida International.

On the All-Sun Belt Third Team are Florida International's Jeremy Allen and Phillip Taylor, Western Kentucky's Derrick Gordon, Malcoln Kirkland of Arkansas State and J.T. Sulton of Middle Tennessee State.

Udofia was the Defensive Player of the Year award and Mitchell won Freshman of the Year honors.

Mitch McGary is eligible to enter the 2012 NBA Draft as a 19-year-old post-graduate senior at Brewster Academy, but McGary said he isn't remotely ready for the NBA and is looking forward to playing at Michigan.

McGary, a five-star prospect according to Rivals and Scout.com, has been scouted by at least three NBA teams in non-high school settings.

Kentucky's John Calipari, North Carolina's Roy Williams, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Florida's Billy Donovan each have made three trips to see McGary play in person.

Nerlens Noel has dropped Florida and Providence from his list of schools.

Noel, a 6-foot-11 center, will choose between Kentucky, Georgetown, Syracuse, Connecticut and North Carolina.

He plans to make his decision in April.

Darius Miller is shooting 75 percent from the floor in the last ten minutes of games in which Kentucky is leading by five points or fewer or trailing.

Miller has shot 15-of-20 from the field, 5-of-8 from the three point line, and 13-of-14 from the stripe, which works out to an average of 24 points per 40 minutes of crunch time.

Tyler Zeller has taken two classes devoted entirely to the concept of leadership as part of his coursework toward completing his business administration degree at North Carolina.

"Tyler seems to be mature beyond his years," said UNC instructor Jim Kitchen, who taught Zeller in an entrepreneurship class during the fall 2011 semester. "And what I mean by that is he's got a really good perspective on what's important in life. It seems like he really believes doing things the right way for the right reasons, treating people with respect and working hard."

Zeller has led with a more vocal approach this season.

"I've been through a lot of leadership courses," Zeller said, "and it's something they always tell you - that you have to step into it. You can't be forcing yourself into it. I think I've tried, but at the same time I try not to force it upon people. And if they listen to me, that's great, if not, that's what coach Williams is for."

"He's definitely become a much more vocal leader (in) his senior year," said sophomore forward Harrison Barnes. "You know, I think that's just experience, playing better, things like that. Now he's really developed and embraced that role of being the senior leader for this team."

Zeller has taken on more of a leadership role as the season has progressed.

Said Roy Williams: "When he's out on the court in practice, and something's not going well, he will say something. It's in a definitive tone. It's not, 'Come on, guys.' It's not, 'Boys will be boys.' It's, 'Hey, guys, let's get our blankety-blanks together and go do it the right way.'"

Jared Sullinger has produced a pair of single-singles in his last two games.

"It's strictly mental," Sullinger said of his struggles. "I've got to get my mind back on winning basketball games. ... It's not the end of the world. We still have life."

Sullinger, who has picked up at least four fouls in four of his last six games, admitted to thinking about foul calls instead of playing his game.

"I'm always thinking about how can I play, is the ref going to call this foul or that foul?" he said in a 10-minute news conference, admitting his shortcomings and unburdening his worries. "So I'm constantly worried about the refs instead of how I was supposed to play."

Thad Matta had a private discussion with Sullinger.

"He said I haven't been playing the same since. I haven't been as physical. I'm trying to not foul instead of playing defense, and on the offensive end I'm not being as physical as I used to be posting up because I'm scared of what the refs were going to call," Sullinger said. "He said I was playing timid."

Matt Dellavedova of Saint Mary's has been named the 2012 West Coast Player of the Year. This marks the second consecutive season in which a member of Saint Mary's has won the award, following Mickey McConnell.

Between 1998 and 2010, a member of Gonzaga won it in every year except two.

Dellavedova averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game for the Gaels.

Joining Dellavedova on the All-Conference First Team are Gonzaga's Elias Harris, Kevin Pangos and Robert Sacre, Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock of Brigham Young, Anthony Ireland and Drew Viney of Loyola Marymount and Angelo Caloiaro of San Francisco.

Receiving Honorable Mention are BYU's Matt Carlino, Pepperdine's Corbin Moore, Stephen Holt of Saint Mary's, San Diego's Johnny Dee, and Perris Blackwell and Rashad Green of San Francisco.

Sacre was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Pangos received the Newcomer of the Year award.

Joining Pangos on the All-Freshman Team was teammate Gary Bell Jr., Brad Waldow of Saint Mary's, along with Carlino and Dee.

Despite playing just 22.0 minutes per game in conference play, De'Mon Brooks was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year. Brooks averaged 27.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.9 fouls per 36 minutes.

Brooks was joined on the All-Southern Conference Team by teammate Jake Cohen, Georgia Southern's Eric Ferguson, Wofford's Kevin Giltner, Citadel's Mike Groselle, Elon's Jack Isenbarger, Wofford's Brad Loesing, UNC Greensboro's Travis Simpson, and Trent Wiedeman and Antwaine Wiggins of Charleston.

Loesing was named Defensive Player of the Year, while Karl Cochran of Wofford was named Freshman of the Year.

Cochran was joined on the All-Freshmen Team by Samford's Tyler Hood and Raijon Kelly, Elon's Austin Hamilton and Charleston's Adjehi Baru.

Murray State's Isaiah Canaan was named the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. Canaan averaged 19.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Canaan was joined on the All-OVC First Team by teammate Donte Poole, Tennessee Tech's Kevin Murphy and Jud Dillard, and Tennessee State's Robert Covington.

On the All-OVC Second Team are Murray State's Ivan Aska, Austin Peay's John Fraley, Jeremy Granger of Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky's Jaron Jones, Southeast Missouri State's Tyler Stone and Mark Yelovich of SIU-Edwardsville.

Murray State's Jewuan Long was named Defensive Player of the Year, while Tennessee-Martin's Myles Taylor was named Freshman of the Year.

With an average of 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, Long Island's Julian Boyd has been named the Northeast Conference's 2012 Player of the Year.

Boyd is joined on the All-NEC First Team by teammate Jamal Olasewere, Sacred Heart's Shane Gibson, Ken Horton of Central Connecticut State and Velton Jones of Robert Morris.

On the All-NEC Second Team are Wagner's Latif Rivers and Tyler Murray, Quinnipiac's Ike Azotam and James Johnson, and Long Island's Jason Brickman.

The Defensive Player of the Year is sophomore guard Kenneth Ortiz of Wagner, while Scott Eatherton of St. Francis (PA) was recognized as the Most Improved Player.

Kyle Vinales of Central Connecticut State was named Rookie of the Year and was joined on the All-Rookie Team by Monmouth's Dion Nesmith, Jalen Cannon of St. Francis (NY), Ousmane Drame of Quinnipiac and Lucky Jones of Robert Morris.