Many members of the national media as well as coaches across the country have figured out that Aaron Miles is one of the nation’s top point guards. However, he is not considered to be one of the nation’s elite point guards.

If you’ve ever watched a North Carolina game televised on one of the ESPN networks, you may have noticed how much analyst Dick Vitale loves to talk about Tar Heels junior point guard Raymond Felton. It’s hard not to notice Vitale drooling all over the microphone as he raves about Felton’s greatness and future NBA potential.

If you visit ESPN.com and read one of the archived articles college basketball analyst Andy Katz has written, you may discover the shrine Katz has to Wake Forest sophomore point guard Chris Paul. Katz vehemently believes Paul is the front-runner for National Player of the Year, not to mention God’s gift to college basketball.

These college basketball analysts like Aaron Miles, but you’ll rarely hear his name in the same sentence as Felton or Paul.

On Jan. 13, the 2005 Bob Cousy Award candidates were announced. Miles was chosen along with 18 others to be part of a list that recognizes college basketball’s top point guard, in all three NCAA divisions. At the time the list of candidates was released, Miles was averaging 9.2 points and 7.1 assists per game. Other notable candidates include Georgia Tech’s junior Jarret Jack (14.8 ppg, 4.7 apg), Marquette’s senior Travis Diener (20.9, 6.6), Notre Dame’s senior Chris Thomas (15.5, 6.7), Paul (14.3, 6.4) and of course Felton (10.6, 7.7).

If you look closely at Felton’s line, his statistics are nearly identical to those of Miles, yet Felton gets all of the national attention.

Miles is, without a doubt, a great point guard, but he won’t win this award. His statistics aren’t flashy enough. He doesn’t score enough, he isn’t showy enough and honestly, I doubt he cares. This award, like many others, relies heavily on individual statistics. It doesn’t rely enough on team success, leadership, toughness and performing in the clutch, all reasons why Miles should seriously be considered for this award.

Miles is arguably having his best season offensively, but he doesn’t score as much as those other point guards. He doesn’t have to. Miles has never even been close to the first scoring option for the Jayhawks. In his three plus years at Kansas, he has never been better than the fourth of fifth scoring option. Playing alongside All-American’s Drew Gooden and Nick Collison, and Kirk Hinrich as well, doesn't afford a point guard many opportunities to be selfish. The Jayhawks have never needed his offense.

What he has done is become a better passer, a better rebounder, a more tenacious defender, and he never shies away from the big moment — such as the shot in Columbia two years ago, against Missouri, which tied the game and sent the match to overtime. These qualities alone make him an elite point guard. Miles will not drop 20 points on a given night, but you can always count on him to set his teammates up, take care of the ball, defend without regard and play as hard as he can.

On top of that, Miles has a chance to become the fifth player in NCAA history to reach 1000 career assists. Including the regular season, if the Hawks were to make it into the finals of the Big 12 tournament and NCAA tournament, KU would play 21 more games. Miles would have to average 7.52 assists per game to reach 1000. He’ll probably fall a little short finishing in the neighborhood of 975 career assists. Kansas doesn't shoot well enough or score enough for Miles to rack up the assists.

If you want Miles to score more, he needs to take more shots. This season Miles is averaging a miniscule 5.9 field goal attempts per game. Compare that with Diener (13.4), Thomas (12.8), Paul (9.6), Jack (9.2), and Felton (7.8). If Miles took as many shots per game as them, his offensive numbers would be similar, if not better. You have to take into consideration that most of the point guards on the Cousy Award list are number one scoring options for their teams, especially Thomas, Diener, and Jack.

Kansas’ biggest weakness this season has been it’s inability to score in bunches and to score consistently. If Miles wants a chance for the Cousy Award, 1,000 assists, or to hold a big trophy at the end of the season, he may have to do something he’s never had to do before. Score.

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2005 bob Cousy award Candidates

2004-05 Stats

Name School (NCAA Division) Ht. Yr PPG APG

Jose Juan Barea Northeastern (I) 6' Jr 22.6 6.8

J.D. Byers Lebanon Valley (III) 5'10 Sr. 25.5 4.4

Travis Diener* Marquette (I) 6'1 Sr 20.9 6.6

Raymond Felton* North Carolina (I) 6'1 Jr 10.6 7.7

Tim Forbes Bentley (II) 6' Jr 18.8 4.2

Tom Harrington Baldwin Wallace (III) 5'11 Sr 8.8 3.4

Chris Hernandez* Stanford (I) 6'2 Jr 13.7 3.9

Julius Hodge North Carolina State (I) 6'7 Sr 18.8 4.7

Jarrett Jack Georgia Tech (I) 6'3 Jr 14.8 4.7

Erik Jackson Macalester (III) 5'10 Sr 15.8 5.6

Carl Krauser Pittsburgh (I) 6'2 Jr 15.8 5.4

Dave Logan Indianapolis (II) 6'1 Sr 26.8 5.6

Aaron Miles Kansas (I) 6'1 Sr 9.2 7.1

Rob Monroe Quinnipiac (I) 5'10 Sr 21.2 8.0

Josh Mueller* South Dakota (II) 5'11 Sr 18.5 4.5

Chris Paul* Wake Forest (I) 6' So 14.3 6.4

Chris Thomas* Notre Dame (I) 6'1 Sr 15.5 6.7

C.J. Watson Tennessee (I) 6'2 Jr 12.1 5.3

Deron Williams Illinois (I) 6'3 Jr 13.8 6.9

• A finalist in 2004

Source: College Sports Information Directors of America

Weinstein is an Overland Park senior in English.