PHILADELPHIA (4/11/04) - A weary Jameer Nelson returned to Philadelphia just before sunrise on Easter Sunday after a cross-country flight, completing a week in which he collected every national Player of the Year award offered.

Nelson picked up the final one, and the one that had the greatest impact on him the previous day in Los Angeles. It was the prestigious John R. Wooden Award, announced live by the 93-year old coaching legend on a national telecast from the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Looking at the five finalists seated in the front row, Coach Wooden opened the envelope and said, "Let's see who has the biggest smile". With that, Wooden announced the Hawks' point guard as the 2004 winner, capping Nelson's sweep of the Player of the Year awards.

"All of the awards I've received have meant alot, but this just means so much more. Sitting here next to Coach Wooden means more than any other award I could receive in my lifetime. Meeting him has been such an honor - it's something I'll never forget," said Nelson of the only award in which the result was kept secret. "I'll always be able to look at the trophies in my basement, but sitting here at this podium with Coach Wooden is something I will always cherish."

Nelson's experience of a lifetime continued that evening as he was seated at the head table next to Coach Wooden during the banquet, which had an all-time high crowd of over 740 in attendance.

It capped a whirlwind weekend for Nelson, who with Coach Phil Martelli, received the Naismith player and coach awards on Friday evening in Atlanta. Arriving in Atlanta Friday morning, the SJU group attended the Naismith dinner that night and then caught a 10 p.m. flight to Los Angeles.

The Naismith dinner had its memorable, or not so memorable moments, when the video introducing Martelli made mention of the "St. John's Hawks" repeatedly throughout the 3-minute presentation. Never one to miss an opportunity, Martelli opened his remarks saying, "It's great to be here in Memphis". Nelson's video unfortunately repeated the same mistake throughout.

Nelson and Martelli had collected the majority of their awards the previous weekend at the Final Four in San Antonio. In a span of four days, the duo attended six different awards presentations. That trip consisted of the Rupp Award, the Chevrolet award presentation televised by CBS from the Alamodome, and the awards presentations for the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and United States Basketball Writers. The NABC was the only organization that had co-honorees, as Nelson shared the player award with UConn's Emeka Okafor, and Martelli sharing with Mike Montgomery of Stanford.

Along the way, Nelson and Martelli were humble and unselfish in their messages. Nelson continually credited his teammates and coaches as the reason he was receiving the awards. Martelli accepted every award on behalf "of the 15 guys and three assistant coaches who gave everything they had every day, and strived for excellence every single day".

Before returning from San Antonio, Nelson picked up one more on his own as the senior was named the winner of the inaugural Bob Cousy Point Guard Award, accepting the award from Cousy himself.

Wooden and Cousy weren't the only legends Nelson got to meet on his tour. At a stopover in Cincinnati on the return trip from San Antonio, the Hawks' point guard got to share a conversation with one of basketball's best guards ever - Oscar Robertson. Ironically, Nelson's award from the USBWA is the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

Nelson was also named the winner of the Senior Class Award, but has to wait until May 7 to pick that up in Kansas City.

"The whole week was a dream come true. Nobody could ever imagine this - you just dream about it," said Nelson. "But the most memorable moment was definitely when they announced my name for the Wooden Award. It was the most emotion I used all week. Even though I was extremely tired, I just felt so much emotion. It's unbelievable."

Jameer Nelson's Awards -John R. Wooden Award - Naismith Award - Rupp Award - Associated Press Player of the Year - Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA) - NABC Co-Player of the Year - Chevrolet Player of the Year - Bob Cousy Point Guard Award - Player of the Year - The Sporting News, ESPN.com, FoxSports.com, Basketball Times

Phil Martelli's Awards - Naismith Award - Rupp Cup - Associated Press Coach of the Year - Henry Iba Award (USBWA) - NABC Co-Coach of the Year - Chevrolet Coach of the Year