You’ve heard the trash they talk about seniors in college basketball. They don’t even bother whispering it any more. Seniors are the guys who don’t quite have the sizzle to get themselves into the NBA.
They’re a step slow. Or an inch too short. The sneaker companies aren’t lining up to stuff endorsement dollars into their pockets.
Check an update on the 2007 McDonald’s all-American game roster, the guys who could be seniors in college basketball today. Most of them are going, going, gone. Nine left for the NBA after their freshman seasons. Of the 24 guys who played in that game in Louisville, just six are still dribbling in college basketball.
Don’t reach for a crying towel. Seniors moments are being celebrated everywhere.
Jimmer Fredette of Brigham Young. Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler at Duke. Ben Hansbrough and the entire starting lineup at Notre Dame. JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore at Purdue. Pittsburgh’s Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown. Jon Leuer of Wisconsin. Senior citizens have left their fingerprints everywhere on this college basketball season.
“Seniors understand how important every game is and they play like they might not get another chance,” South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said. “They know how to prepare and how to compete.”
Start with Ohio State, the best team in the country. Seven-footer Kosta Koufos was supposed to be the centerpiece of this Buckeyes’ senior class. Don’t tell that to Jon Diebler, Dallas Lauderdale and David Lighty, three seniors who haven’t lost a game since they were juniors.
Diebler is making 48 percent of his three-point shots. He can shoot it from Youngstown. Lighty is Mr. Defensive Stopper, a legitimate glue guy. Lauderdale and his endless muscles give Jared Sullinger time to exhale in the middle.
And whatever happened to Kosta Koufos? Take 500 bonus points if you can name the NBA bench where Koufos is resting. (It’s Minnesota, where Koufos has scored 92 points all season.)
What about Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith at Duke?
Both played with Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon and the rest of the McDonald’s all-Americans at Freedom Hall four years ago. They were never considered one-year guys, but they certainly could have said goodbye to coach Mike Krzyzewski’s program last spring after they directed the Blue Devils to an NCAA championship.
Paychecks can wait. You can’t put a price tag on the fun Smith and Singler are having. They’re following the Grant Hill model of locking down a degree while pursuing more titles – conference and national.
Roll video from Duke’s stirring comeback victory against North Carolina Wednesday. All Smith is doing is leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in points and assists. Singler is tracking toward becoming a 2,000-point and 1,000-rebound player at Duke.
I wonder how many of the 2007 guys who left early – I’m talking about you, J.J. Hickson of the 8-45 Cleveland Cavaliers -- are having as much fun as those two.
“Those are two guys that aren’t going to come along like that and play four years in college basketball very often on the same team like that,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.
The list goes on. And on. I didn’t mean to wait this long to get to Fredette, the guy who is leading the nation in scoring (27.5 points) by more than three points per game. I’d advise holding your ballots until March, but the national player of the year race appears to have narrowed to Fredette, Smith, Sullinger and Kemba Walker of Connecticut.
Even if Fredette doesn’t win, he’s done more for BYU basketball than anybody since Shawn Bradley or maybe Danny Ainge, putting the Cougars in serious consideration for a two- or three-seed for the NCAA Tournament.
When Rose, O.J. Mayo, Blake Griffin and others in their class were dominating the college game as freshmen three winters ago, Fredette wasn’t even staying on the floor for half the game at BYU, averaging seven points in less than 19 minutes.
Fredette has played his way into Player of the Year consideration the old-fashioned way – improving his handle, deepening his range, upgrading his consistency.
Have you looked at what is going on in the Big East?
Last October conference coaches picked Notre Dame to finish seventh. As the season roars into the second weekend in February, the Irish trail only Pittsburgh, which depends on seniors Wanamaker, Brown and Gary McGhee.
Of course, Notre Dame (20-4) depends upon five seniors, all of them starters. Ask Louisville coach Rick Pitino about the value of playing five seniors.
On Wednesday night, Pitino’s team had Notre Dame down by four with less than four minutes to play. The Irish tied it, but Louisville had the ball for the final possession in regulation.
Brey saw that Louisville was trying to isolate point guard Peyton Siva for a drive to the rim. Brey switched Notre Dame from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone in the middle of the possession. The result: No drive by Siva. Missed three-pointer by Louisville’s Preston Knowles. Then Notre Dame scored the first 14 points in overtime of an 89-79 victory in South Bend.
“Our men played like men at crunch time,” Brey said.
Not surprising. Seniors have been doing just that across the country all season.
