If you're looking for college basketball's most improved player
this season, then East Tennessee State's Tommy Hubbard might just
be your guy.
Despite a distinguished career at the St. Mark's School just
outside of Boston, the 6-4, 210-pound guard (which might be a
generous height listing) didn't receive a lot of attention from Big
East or ACC schools. After weighing multiple mid-major offers he
decided to take his game down south to Johnson City in 2007.
Hubbard took some time to warm up to the college game, and
multiple injuries didn't help his cause, either. But during his
first two seasons as a Buccaneer he did develop a reputation as a
relentless worker and a defensive specialist.
It was that capacity to defend that prompted ETSU coach Murry
Bartow to convince Hubbard to sacrifice a redshirt season last
year. With nine games to go, he suited back up for the Bucs.
That unselfishness turned out to be a godsend for the
program, as Hubbard's defense in the Atlantic Sun Tournament helped
propel ETSU to three wins and an automatic bid in the NCAA
Tournament.
While the other 16 seeds lost their first round games by an
average of 41 points in the Big Dance, ETSU only lost by 10 to top
seeded Pittsburgh. Hubbard helped keep the Bucs in it by pulling
down seven rebounds in 22 minutes of work.
His tenaciousness and desire to do whatever it takes hasn't
gone unnoticed. "He's got that will to win," said one NBA scout of
Hubbard. "He has the mentality of an NFL special teams player. He
does whatever it takes to help the team."
Hubbard was expected to be an important contributor for
Bartow coming into this campaign. But nobody realized just how
important a player he would actually become for ETSU.
This past summer he headed back to Boston and participated in
workouts with NBA players. It's during that time that the offensive
light came on for him.
Coming into this campaign Hubbard had only scored a grand
total of 75 points in his first two seasons. He eclipsed that total
by ETSU's sixth game this season. Prior to this year he had one
double digit scoring effort to his credit. This season he's
exceeded double digits in 22 contests, with eight of those efforts
being of of the 20+ point variety.
He's leading ETSU in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.4
rpg) as well as steals (49). Once a liability at the charity
stripe, Hubbard is now making an extremely respectable 73% of his
free throw attempts.
Earlier this season, the Bucs took Tennessee to the limit
before fading in the second half and dropping a 12-point decision.
The game made Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl a believer in Hubbard's
ability.
"He's a terrific player and championship teams need a player
like Tommy Hubbard on the roster," said Pearl . "His stat lines are
impressive, but what he brings to the floor goes well beyond the
box score."
Atlantic Sun Tournament appears to be a wide open affair
Speaking of the Bucs, they'll be in Macon, GA this week to
defend their Atlanta Sun Tournament title. This year's edition of
the tournament seems to have all the makings of a wide open affair.
Belmont appeared to be ready to lock down the league's top
seed a week and a half ago. That was before a head scratching loss
to a Florida Gulf Coast team that was 7-20 at the time.
At that point Jacksonville assumed the driver's seat, but
they were victimized in their regular season finale by ETSU.
Once the dust had settled there were Lipscomb, Jacksonville,
Belmont and Campbell all tied atop the league standings with a
record of 14-6. In league procedures, Lipscomb gained the top seed,
Jacksonville the second berth, Belmont the third spot and the
Camels were tabbed fourth.
Siena looks to make it a threepeat in the MAAC Tournament
Since the MAAC Tournament returned to Albany in 2008 it's
been all Siena. This season, the venue is
the same, and once again Siena's the team to beat.
The Saints nearly ran the table in MAAC play, their lone
league loss coming back on February 12 to a Niagara team that's
seeded fifth in this tournament.
No team in the league sports a frontcourt duo as proficient
as Siena's Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter. The forwards have
combined for 30.1 ppg and 17.8 rpg on the season.
But it's senior point guard Ronald Moore who is Siena's best
player. He leads the nation in assists per game at 7.7 a contest
and ranks 11th nationally in assist to turnover ratio (2.7).
As he goes, so go the Saints. In that loss to Niagara last
month, the Purple Eagles forced him into an uncharacteristic five
turnovers. The rest of the MAAC can definitely use that as a
blueprint in trying to prevent a third straight title for Siena.
Butler a prohibitive favorite to win the Horizon League
Tournament
No tournament rewards regular season excellence more than the
Horizon League. The top two seeds actually get two byes and the
higher seeded teams in the first round get home games. That's a
pretty sweet deal right there.
With that in mind, regular season champion Butler's path to
the tourney title is even easier. The Bulldogs ran the table in
conference play and haven't really been tested in over a month.
A possible semifinal game pitting #2 seed Wright State and #3
seed Wisconsin-Green Bay would be the most intriguing matchup of
the tournament. With Wright State sitting on 19 wins and Green Bay
sitting on 20, both teams could use some resume building to enhance
their postseason chances.
Bubble teams from the major conferences will be paying
attention to the Horizon tourney because in the unlikely event of a
Butler loss, this conference would get two bids to NCAAs.
Therefore, coaches like Rick Stansbury and Steve Fisher will be big
Bulldog fans this week.
Big South Tournament a shot at redemption for Cliff Ellis
Lefty Driesell, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith and Eddie Sutton.
Those are the four coaches in the history of college basketball who
have led four different schools into the NCAA Tournament.
If regular season champ Coastal Carolina wins the Big South
Tournament, Cliff Ellis would join that elite group. That's not bad
company to keep.
His last coaching stop at Auburn was an up and down tenure
that ended with him being fired in the midst of an NCAA
investigation (in which he was not implicated of wrong doing).
While the program at his former school flounders, he's made Coastal
Carolina competitive again. The school hasn't been to the Big Dance
in nearly two decades.
Seniors Mario Edwards, Joe Harris and Logan Johnson lead a
Chanticleer team that's only allowed 59 points a game to the
opposition. Nationally, the team ranks seventh in field goal
percentage defense at 37.7%.
