Previous Pac-12 basketball Internet awards: All Pac-12 teams (all-conference, all-defense, all-freshman).
Our next award voted on by our best Pac-12 basketball writers was given to the best freshman in the conefence, and in a surprise to only those who are fully invested in the Kareem Storey bandwagon, the star Washington Huskies point guard captured freshman honors in his first season. Ten votes were cast, and all of the first ballots went to Wroten.
Wroten had a difficult job coming in and trying to lead Washington without Isaiah Thomas, but he did manage to do something Thomas never did--lead his team to a Pac-12 regular season title. Yes, it's arguably a hideous title (one of the weakest ever), but Wroten still had Washington finishing 14-4 in conference and the Huskies righting the ship near the end of the season. Wroten's usage rate and production are hard to deny.
Chasson Randle (two second place votes) of Stanford and Spencer Dinwiddie of Colorado (a third place vote)
Jeff Nusser, CougCenter: Tony Wroten. Begrudgingly. Not because he's a Husky, but because he's just so inefficient. That said, he carried a tremendous load for Washington and came up huge at big times. He can win games for you. (But he can also lose games, too.)
Jack Follman, Pacific Takes: Tony Wroten, as mentioned before, Wroten was the best player on the best team in the league and was a go-to player down the stretch in games.
Joey Kaufman, Pacific Takes: This one is easy: Tony Wroten. The freshman guard averaged 16 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists over 18 Pac-12 games.
awbutler, Pachoops: Tony Wroten. Not even going to go further into it.
David Piper, Addicted to Quack: Tony Wroten--Washington. Another award that I didn't seriously consider anyone else for. Wroten, despite turnover problems, was one of the better players in the league in a year that wasn't exactly great for freshmen.
norcalnick, California Golden Blogs: Wroten, by a mile. For all of his many flaws, he's still a high volume scorer shouldering a huge load for the conference champion.
AndyPanda, Building The Dam: Tony Wroten is the only one in the conversation. He was in the running for Player of the Year and quarterbacked the Huskies to the conference title from the point guard position. That’s a pretty good accomplishment for any player, never mind a freshman who also missed a high school season due to an injury. He looked like a junior on the floor at times.
Griffin Bennett, Montlake Madness: Tony Wroten – Washington
This is the biggest lock of the season. Wroten was a top five player and easily deserves this award. The only other candidate was Stanford’s Chasson Randle.
Parker Baruh, Ralphie Report: Wroten had the best season overall in the conference and I picked him as my player of the year, so I am going to pick him as my freshman of the year.
Avinash Kunnath, Pacific Takes: Tony Wroten. Not terribly impressed with Wroten (he's a bit overrated, as the NBA team who picks him will soon find), but he's been the most productive freshman on the floor and there's no clear challenger to best him.