So how does a star HS player from New Jersey wind up in the Ohio Valley Conference anyway? A lot of Rutgers and Seton Hall fans are likely asking the same thing after watching Kenneth Faried perform the last two seasons. Apparently some schools didn"t think he would qualify academically to be eligible to play as a freshman. Or they didn"t want to wait to find out if he would qualify. Well, those schools" loss turned out to be Morehead State"s gain. Faried (photo below from a game against Marshall last season), a 6-8 215 forward from Newark Technology HS, found his way to the OVC school in the middle of UK country, and he has done nothing but be a star since. The man is a walking double double. He had seven as a freshman in 2007-08, and this year he is averaging a double double in addition to being named the OVC defensive player of the year. Now, while Kentucky fans get set for the NIT, and with Rutgers and Seton Hall nowhere to be found in anybody"s brackets, Morehead State will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years (although probably not for long). After their nerve-wracking but thrilling 67-65 double overtime win over Austin Peay in the OVC championship game, the Eagles have a date against Alabama State in the opening round play-in game, with the winner advancing to face Midwest #1 seed Louisville.
Says Faried about his role on the team in an article last month from the Louisville Courier-Journal: "I hold the paint down. I grab rebounds. I can score occasionally. I"m not big on scoring. But I love to go up and get rebounds. Every rebound, I just think that it"s a pass to me. So I go get them." The next Ben Wallace? Could be. There"s still a place in the NBA for players like Faried who are great rebounders but not great scorers, so it will be interesting to watch how his career progresses.
The preseason magazines had Arkansas picked for last place in the SEC West. But I will admit I got my hopes up after watching the Razorbacks, led by freshman guard Courtney Fortson, go 12-1 in non-conference games, including victories over Oklahoma and Texas. But then the reality of conference play set in. The Razorbacks played hard but suffered from a lack of depth, lost every close game they played and indeed ended up dead last. Their 2-14 SEC record was so poor that it dropped their overall record under .500 and out of consideration for postseason play. I don"t expect the Hogs to be down for long though. Yes, Fortson plays out of control too often, but don"t be surprised if he leads the nation in assists sometime before his career is done.
Whenever I see J"Nathan Bullock play for Cleveland State, the first thing I think about is if he can be the next Antonio Gates. At 6-5 240 he just looks like a football player. Actually he was a football player, and a good one, at Flint (MI) Northern HS. And since it is nearly impossible to succeed in the NBA as a 6-5 power forward, it will be interesting to see if he pursues an NFL career after he leaves Cleveland State. But first things first. The Vikings, with Bullock averaging 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in his senior season, are 24-10 and headed for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 23 years after winning at Butler in the Horizon League championship game. Bullock (photo above shown holding the Horizon League trophy after returning to Cleveland) and company are a #13 seed in the Midwest and will have their hands full with Wake Forest in their 1st round game.
Just a quick timeout here. Since Yardbarker seems to be unable to allow you to use something as simple as an apostrophe mark without messing it up, I will be using the quotation mark (") as an apostrophe until they get it figured out. If they ever get it figured out. You probably already noticed.
I never did get around to doing a list like I did for football of the players with the best dreads. I wanted to check the rosters of all the teams before I did the list. But here we are with the season almost over and still I have checked teams from only nine of the Div. 1 conferences. So as I do these lists, I might be excluding players I don"t know about.
- 2008 College BB All-Dread Top 10 (the players with the best dreads, with the best listed first)
- Justin Carter - Creighton - JR F
- Germaine Sparks - North Florida - JR G
- Raymond Sykes - Clemson - SR C-F
- Courtney Fortson - Arkansas - FR G
- Kevin Thomas - Murray State - SR G
- Kenneth Faried - Morehead State - SOPH F
- Kevin Murphy - Tennessee Tech - FR F
- Jonathan Toles - Jacksonville State - SR G
- London Warren - Dayton - JR G
- Mario Telfair - Troy - SR F
- Honorable mention: Bobby Ware - Troy, Josh Hunter - Appalachian State, DeAundre Cranston - Mississippi, Albert Jackson - Georgia, - Wille Lago - Louisiana-Lafayette, - Carrio Bennett - South Carolina State, Sam Coleman - Coppin State, DeMarre Carroll - Missouri, Andrew Hayles - Alabama State
- 2008 College BB All-America with dreads (the list of the best players)
- DeMarre Carroll - Missouri - 1st team All-Big 12, 16.8 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 56.4 FG%
- Jordan Hill - Arizona - 1st team All-Pac 10, 18.5 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 54.8 FG%
- Kenneth Faried - Morehead State - 1st team All-OVC, 13.9 ppg, 12.8 RPG (3rd in NCAA), 56.6 FG%, 1.9 BPG, 1.9 SPG
- Jamarco Warren - Charleston Southern - 17.8 PPG, 99 3-point FG, 2.8 RPG, 2.8 APG
- Alex Barnett (photo below) - Dartmouth - Ivy League player of the year - 19.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.2 BPG
- Honorable mention: Courtney Fortson - Arkansas, J"Nathan Bullock - Cleveland State, Champ Oguchi - Illinois State, Jay Brown - Lamar, Robert Jarvis - ORU
- 2008 Freshman All-America with dreads (this season"s best freshmen)
- Courtney Fortson - Arkansas - 14. 8 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.9 APG
- Devon Moore - James Madison - 10. 2 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.0 APG
- Dominique Morrison - ORU - 9.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG
- Kevin Murphy - Tennessee Tech - 9.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG
- Ryan Hare - Southern Illinois - 7.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG
- Brolin Floyd - Liberty - 6.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG
- I"ll leave it with just those six, but I think I"m forgetting somebody. I"ll comment later if I remember who.
There is no shortage of postseason games involving teams that have players with dreads.
In the NCAA Tournament, there are UT-Chattanooga, Clemson, VCU, Cal State-Northridge, Dayton, Missouri, Arizona, Cleveland State, Ohio State, Robert Morris, Florida State, Alabama State, and Morehead State. (Better see them while you can - only Missouri seems a safe bet to advance to the 2nd round).
The NIT has Creighton, George Mason, Washington State, Illinois State, and Jacksonville.
Troy is playing in the CBI, and Liberty is in the brand-new CollegInsider.com tournament.
I"ll try to list TV games in a message on the top of my yard profile. Try not to miss any games involving Clemson, Missouri, Creighton, Dayton, and Troy. And of course definitely do not miss Alabama State vs. Morehead State.
That's all the time I have for now. Later.
