Thirteen days ago, Tim McCormick opened an ESPN broadcast by saying David West's chief competition for Atlantic 10 Player of the Year would come from his Xavier teammate, Romain Sato. Then Sato went scoreless his next three halves of basketball.

        OK, so West finished the season stronger, probably removing the suspense of tonight's announcement that the junior center should be named the A-10's first two-time player of the year since 1983. It's his award season; West was named a third-team All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and a finalist for ESPN magazine's center of the year award, along with Duke's Carlos Boozer and Florida's Udonis Haslem.

        Still, Sato has come a long way from the A-10's preseason third team to top-player consideration. The same sophomore who averaged 11.6 points in non-conference games, struggling with his shot while he focused on defense, became XU's top scorer in conference play.

        “Romain to me was like, "Wow, this is a real revelation watching him,'” Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said.

        A straw poll Monday of the league's coaches, who vote on the award, found West the favorite. La Salle coach Billy Hahn, St. Bonaventure's Jan van Breda Kolff and Massachusetts' Steve Lappas said they voted for West. Martelli said he picked Sato. Dayton's Oliver Purnell said he voted for Temple's Lynn Greer, and Fordham's Bob Hill said he chose Bill Phillips of Saint Joe's “as a dark horse.” (Coaches can't vote for a player on their own team.)

        The rest would give only a short list of favorites, though all cited West prominently.

        XU's Thad Matta is the likely choice for the league's coach of the year honors. “I think that's kind of a hands-down deal with Thad,” Hill said. Sato should be a leading candidate for the league's Chris Daniels Award, given to the most improved player.

        West and Sato are the league's top two shooters, at 54.8 and 46.2 percent, respectively. Over the whole season, West's scoring average of 18.6 tops Sato's 15.6, and West led the A-10 in rebounding (10.0 avg.) for the third consecutive season.

        “Being the conference champions, averaging a double-double, the things he's done defensively — in my mind, that makes Dave the player of the league,” Matta said.

        There's no guideline for voting, but some coaches say the award should cover performance only in conference play. Both players shot 50 percent in A-10 play, but Sato averaged 18.3 points to West's 17.8.

        That disparity was greater before the last four games, when West averaged 19.3 points to Sato's 11. West backers, though, say his success is what inspired Sato's surge anyway.

        “So much of the defense teams play against Xavier is designed to stop West,” van Breda Kolff said. “That's why Sato and (Lionel) Chalmers and the other guys get to break out sometimes.”

        West credits Sato for making those defenses pay.

        “Teams were just concentrating on me, and Romain was kicking their butt,” he said. “It dumbfounded me. He's one of the best shooters in the country. Why are they leaving him open?”

        The three men who have won the top-player award twice are West Virginia's Greg Jones (1982 and '83), St. Bonaventure's Earl Belcher ('80 and '81) and Rutgers' James Bailey ('78 and '79).

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