We were fairly certain Meia Daniels was going to be the D3hoops.com 2008 Player of the Year sometime early in the NCAA Tournament, so when she scored 21 points in Howard Payne's national semifinal win against UW-Whitewater, it was icing on an already-baked cake.

UW-Whitewater coach Keri Carollo agreed: "Meia Daniels is the real deal. When we got within seven, she hit the big shots."

&&g-boxl&&Of course, individual accomplishments pale in comparison to the Walnut and Bronze, and Daniels reminded us of that Tuesday night on Hoopsville: "I needed all 12 of my other teammates just to get me there, and I love them to death." Hear the entire interview.

We weren't sure Troy Ruths was going to be our men's Player of the Year, however, until sometime in the second half of the championship game, where he beat out other leading candidates Andrew Olson of Amherst and Kent Raymond of Wheaton (Ill.).

Of course, Ruths, like Daniels, was also the Most Outstanding Player of his Final Four. He also took home the Jostens Trophy. "When they came out with the finalists, I was just honored to be on the list," he said on Hoopsville on Tuesday. "It's quite an accomplishment, and it's really neat that Division III basketball puts out such a prestigious award." Hear the entire interview.

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