When you mention college basketball, programs like Vermont, St. Peter's, Western Carolina, Centenary, Eastern Illinois, and Virginia Millitary Institute are not typically associated with, well, anything. But for the past 5 seasons, each one of these schools has been home to the NCAA scoring champion.

But the history books are about to be rewritten.

Since November a rare battle has been taking place for shares of the national scoring title and player of the year honors between Duke’s J.J. Redick and Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison. So rare that only 2 players in the past thirty-five years have won both; Pete Maravich in 1970 and Glenn Robinson in 1994.

To make the story even saucier, both are fighting for a national championship. Typically the scoring champion becomes so because of a weak supporting cast on a lowly mid-major conference team.

But as they enter March Madness, Morrison leads the scoring race by six-tenths of a point, averaging 28.4 points-per-game to Redick’s 27.8 ppg. Both are aided by tremendous big men inside, with Shelden Williams for Duke and J.P. Batista for Gonzaga both averaging close to 20 points and 9 rebounds a game. Unfortunately for them, they are caught in the shadow of the sun. Redick and Morrison both shoot over 50 percent from the field and over 43 percent from behind the arc. So it is not that they aren’t distributing the ball, it’s that they’re making their opportunities count.

            And if one of them wins the national championship and the scoring title, they will be the first in NCAA history to do so. In fact, only two players among the nation’s top 10 scorers have even made it to the Final Four in the past 30 years! Is anyone else excited yet?

As for player of the year, that will probably come down to who can dance the big dance better than Jerry Rice’s tango. A lot of people are screaming for it to be awarded to both players. Duke is the better overall team, with more depth and more supporting help for Redick than Morrison has with Gonzaga (though every Duke game has been televised so maybe I’m biased). But not only is Morrison more physical and a better defender, he sports a mustache that would make both Rollie Fingers and Larry Flynt proud.

These last four months have paralleled the 1998 Mcgwire/Sosa home run race in what it has done for basketball. Only this race will not be overshadowed by a steroid controversy. These are two kids with raw talent dominating the NCAA in a way it has never seen, and may never see again. Their comparisons are uncanny. What happened the same night Redick scored 40 against Virginia? Morrison dropped 42 against Portland. They even both scored the same year low 11 points on the same night.

Luckily as a fan of college basketball, I am not forced to, nor will I, pick one or the other. Both are amazing talents that will succeed at the next level, but to what degree will be left for the future. So for the sake of the game, just savior what the last year has brought us with the realization that we may not get it again. And let’s hope we see the Bulldogs and Blue Devils on the same court before March is over.

Who do you think the player of the year should be? Drop an e-mail to Craig at craig.joseph@atomicsportsmedia.com