Frank Haith, meet Meyers Leonard. Leonard is a college hoops oddity.
It's not just that Illinois' 7-1, 245-pound sophomore big man who has to beat NBA recruiters off with a bat is good at what he does -- Leonard's block rate (10.4 percent) is 35th nationally, only a bit better than his defensive rebounding rate (24.7 percent) that's good for 48th nationally. And there's that 64.1 percent eFG%. It's that Leonard can do those things for most of a 40-minute game, not the norm among big men of his gargantuan figure.
The mobile center has called himself an "athletic freak" for good reason. Leonard has clocked two 35-minute games this season, including the Illini's win over Cornell on Monday, and has averaged a shade under 28 minutes per game. He has been on the floor for 69.8 percent of the Illini's minutes this season, which is second-highest for his team. He says he could play 37 or 38 minutes if he had to.
Leonard could be the ...
Found December 22, 2011 on
Run the Floor:
PLAYERS:
Meyers Leonard,
Marcus Denmon,
Kim English,
Ricardo Ratliffe,
Steve Moore
TEAMS: Illinois Fighting Illini, Missouri Tigers
TEAMS: Illinois Fighting Illini, Missouri Tigers
Original Story:
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Via The Sports Bank
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11-0TEAM RECORD11-1
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