The final matchup of the Coug of the Year Elite Eight just isn't fair.
You're being asked to choose between this season's team leader or last season's. It's a choice between a young man from Hawai'i who was the leading scorer of our Sweet Sixteen team, or a kid from California who led the Pac-10 in assist to turnover ratio and was willing to give up his scholarship for the good of the program.
Both are worthy of the COTY title, so I should remind you that the competition only covers 2008. Meaning you can't factor in Taylor's incredible games at the start of this year, 2009. It also means, though, that you have to include Taylor's ridiculous passing stats from the Pac-10 slate last spring. It also means you have to include what Derrick low did in that same amount of time, which was equally, if not more so, impressive (who do you think helped Taylor get all those assists?).
It's an impossible decision, which is why we have to make it as a group. I give the edge to Low; partly because Taylor has a good shot at COTY in 2009, and when Low and Weaver were absent this fall we started to see just how much they meant to this team. On the other hand, Rochestie nearly made a sacrifice of thousands of dollars just to help out his team. It wasn't his choice to get his scholarship back, either, it was Tony's. So, honestly, either choice is a good one. Good luck coming to a conclusion.
#3 Derrick Low
[Hat tip: kapoleicoug]
#6 Taylor Rochestie
[Hat tip: KXLY]