You guys might think it's a breeze.
If you're tasked to vote on an All-America team, you watch a bunch of games, make a couple mental notes, listen to the talking heads and - voila! - a list appears. Dash off a quick email to the AP desk in New York and there ya go, right?
Well, yes.
Unless you want your vote to have integrity.
Then you struggle mightily, as I did on Tuesday. I even went to the extreme of contacting Robbie Mendelson of the Associated Press for parameters.
In effect, he said selection for the three All-America teams is open for "well considered" interpretation. The only stipulation is each group should be one "you could envision taking the court together." (That means one can't vote for all guards.) Almost all of which leads to much subjectivity.
I wondered about the process because I began pondering West Virginia's Jevon Carter. As this column was being typed, North Carolina State was losing in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament - yet potential top five NBA draft pick Dennis Smith Jr. was on the floor for the Wolfpack. Should Carter receive a vote and not Smith?
Here's where subjectivity comes into play. N.C. State finished the season at 15-17. Coach Mark Gottfried has been fired. Would it be distasteful for Smith to be on the All-America team? Remember, this is a player award.
I'm imagining many of you are still saying no, that Smith should NOT make the team after being part of the Wolfpack dumpster fire. OK, well, here's another one for you: Markelle Fultz, this year's probable No. 1 NBA draft choice. He plays for Washington. Heading into the Pac-12 tournament, the Huskies were a robust 9-21. So no again?
In this case, it would seem Fultz's overwhelming talent flattens the door leading into the All-America room. But does he make the first team? With his team's record?
Meanwhile, WVU is heading into the Big 12 tournament as the league's No. 2 seed. To say that's strong this season is an understatement. In addition, as Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins pointed out Monday, hey, his team spent much of the season within the national polls' top 10.
One would think West Virginia has at least one guy deserving of All-America honors, correct? And, certainly, that one guy would have to be Carter, the team's glue.
Check out Carter's stats. Within WVU's team, he's No. 1 in scoring (12.9 points per game), minutes played (31.4) and assists (123). He was No. 7 nationally heading into Tuesday in steals with 85. He was second on West Virginia's team in free throw shooting (76.8) to Lamont West - with 51 more attempts. Heck, Carter is even No. 2 to Nate Adrian in rebounding (5.0) for goodness sake.
Yet Carter was only on the all-Big 12 second team as selected by the coaches and AP writers. So should he make the national All-America list of just 15? Because his team is 24-7? Over, say, Smith?
Understand that voters must use statistics as a baseline, but one can't expect stats to be the tell-all. The worst player Kentucky's John Calipari recruits would be able to lead, say, Rutgers in scoring. (I'm still, by the way, waiting for that so-called sleeping giant that is Rutgers to awaken in the Big Ten.)
Yet one can't vote on athletic ability or potential either. The honors must be earned. The talent must have been on full exhibit. Go back to Kentucky. Do you like Malik Monk? Me too. He'll make one of my three teams. Yet if you compare his stats to those of the 15 Wooden Award finalists, Monk finishes No. 13. And North Carolina's fine talent Justin Jackson? In that same comparison of seven categories, he finished 15th of 15.
Here's where the lines blur. Jackson is on a team flush with fine players. He's the leader of the Atlantic Coast Conference's best. If you want to give Carter credit for being the best on a fine Mountaineer team, you have to give Jackson extra juice too.
What is distasteful, of course, is the extra attention given to players on teams like UNC and Duke simply because they are UNC and Duke.
Much of the blame falls on television. But ESPN's first initial literally stands for "entertainment." So much more blame falls on voters, who can get lazy. I've seen great Duke teams and players. I've seen very overrated Duke teams and players. Yet there are always Duke players on these teams. Always. The last time there was not was 2007.
This season? Expect sophomore Luke Kennard to be Duke's man.
Bringing us back to WVU's Carter. Many times it seems voters look to teams to honor individuals. And many times they look hard, especially with the blue-blood schools. Remember, Grayson Allen was supposed to be the Dukies' guy this season. No? OK, then, on to Kennard.
Carter is leading a WVU team that's 24-7 and ranked No. 11 in both polls. Kennard is leading a Duke team that's 23-8 and ranked No. 14 in both. Is Kennard projected to be an NBA top five pick, a talent one can't overlook, aka Fultz or Smith? He is not. So if one is looking for Duke's leader, it makes sense to also look for that of No. 11 WVU.
All that written, I don't know if Carter will make my ballot. The odds are certainly very long he'll make any of the AP teams. There's tons of talent out there, from UCLA's Lonzo Ball and the Kansas duo of Frank Mason and Josh Jackson to Purdue's Caleb Swanigan and Oregon's Dillon Brooks. Nigel Williams-Goss is making Gonzaga a legit contender. I'm a huge fan of Baylor's Jonathan Motley. Oh, and don't forget that Josh Hart kid at Villanova.
Thankfully, I have until Sunday to vote for the three teams. Understand, though, Carter's fine play for WVU will be considered.
And it's made me think that maybe, just maybe, the voting process needs to be reconsidered.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.