Using the Win Shares formula in Dean Oliver's "Basketball on Paper" (slightly modified for the college game), I plugged in the stats from this conference season to see who really was the best player in the A-Sun.

Two caveats.

1. This is just stats. All it reads is the box scores. It doesn't actually watch players play or take into account intangibles like leadership, determination, etc. It's also not meant to be a predictor of the All-Conference voting. Last year its A-Sun POY was Mike Smith.

2. These stats are tempo-free, which means they put a high value on offensive rebounds and playing a lot of minutes on teams that do a good job defending a particular player's offensive strength.

This system tries to identify players who aren't greedy for shots but make the ones they get, who crash the glass especially on offense, and who contribute to good team defense.

So, the A-Sun Stat Geek Player of the Year is . . .

Daniel Emerson of Mercer (5.57 Win Shares). In addition to leading the conference in both offensive and defensive rebounds, Emerson was also the only player in the league to make 100 FG's while taking fewer than 200 attempts. He was second in the league in Offensive Efficiency, creating 304 points while using only 215 possessions. Emerson's rebounding ability was Mercer's greatest asset on the defensive end as well. Mercer wasn't very good at making people miss this year, but Emerson was superb at making sure the opposition didn't get a second shot.

The rest of the First Team:

Josh Slater (Lipscomb): 4.61. Slater doesn't have a lot of numbers that leap off the page (2nd in the league in assists and steals behind Junard Hartley of Campbell, but that's about it), but when he's out there his team plays better and the other team plays worse. He was Lipscomb's best defender by a wide margin. Depending on your rooting interests, Slater either reminds you of Mike Smith or Steve Wojciechowski.

Ben Smith (Jacksonville): 4.18. As Ben Smith goes, so goes Jacksonville. And this just in, Jacksonville has had a pretty good 2010 so far. Ben Smith plays 37 minutes a game for a team that was second in the conference in Defensive Efficiency, has more steals than turnovers as a point guard (!!), and scores 28% of his teams points while dishing out 1/3 of their assists. Despite the numbers posted by Slater and Emerson, I suspect he's the odds-on favorite for Player of the Year when the humans vote next week, especially if JU holds on to win the league title.

Jonathan Rodriguez (Campbell): 3.93. Jonathan Rodriguez is good at basketball. But this year, the players around him were also good, which made J-Rod that much better. But as balanced as Campbell was this year, when it was time to make a play, Rodriguez stepped up. He took almost a third of Campbell's FT's and made 80%. He could also hit a three when needed. Like Emerson, he could also end a possession in a heartbeat with a steal, blocked shot, or defensive rebound.

Lorne Merthe (Campbell): 3.25. Another guy without a lot of jump-off-the-page numbers, but a really good player on a really good team. On a team with J-Rod, Merthe didn't have to take a lot of shots, but the ones he took he made (50-107 3-pointers, only 4 missed FT's in 19 games). But where Merthe excelled was on defense. Another guard with more steals than turnovers, Merthe was part of a backcourt that only allowed the opposition to make 34% of their 3's.

Second team:

Markeith Cummings (Kennesaw): 3.12
Anthony Banks (Gulf Coast): 3.11
Ayron Hardy (Jacksonville): 3.10
Mezie Uzochukwu (Upstate): 2.83
Adnan Hodzic (Lipscomb): 2.73

Honorable Mention: Tommy Hubbard (ETSU): 2.72, LaDaris Green (Kennesaw): 2.68, Mick Hedgepeth (Belmont): 2.61

All-Defensive Team:

Merthe (Defensive POY), Rodriguez, Ben Smith, Uzochukwu, Emerson

While I don't agree with every pick, this is an intriguing analysis.

In addition, since the All-Conference team will be announced on Sunday or Monday, who are everyone's picks for: (1) First-team (2) Second-team (3) POY (4) All-freshman (5) Freshman POY (6) Defensive POY?

Cummings is FOY. My vote for POY would be Hodzic. He's the only player in this league that I truly fear. He just murdered KSU pretty much by himself.

Hodzic is a man. Cummings may be the league's next star. On paper can be interseting, but to a point. On paper doesn't show show heart, soul and clutch. And coaching and all that. But using an equation is interesting.