Off The Boards by Jack Scheuer – January 17, 2018 Edition

Off The Boards

By Jack Scheuer

January 17, 2018 Edition

Since we’re just about halfway through the season, it’s time to think about Player of the Year candidates, and it seems like there are plenty to be considered.  In the past, seniors have dominated the award, and freshmen have been a rarity with only Kevin Durant (Texas) and Anthony Davis (Kentucky) being the only first year players to be chosen.  This season, Oklahoma’s Trae Young and Duke’s Marvin Bagley will certainly be in the running, as both freshmen are putting up big numbers for top-ranked teams. Among the upper class-men, West Virginia’s Jevon Carter is certainly a serious contender, along with Devonte Graham from Kansas, Carolina’s Joel Berry II, and Michigan State’s Miles Bridges.

That’s a lot of talent to consider, but to me the Player of the Year is Villanova junior Jalen Brunson, who is about as close as possible to being the perfect college point guard.  So, in addition to his obvious talents and total composure at all times, he is the best player on what is right now, the best team in the country.

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By the way, the above-mentioned Anthony Davis is the only freshman ever to be Player of the Year and also be a member of a National Championship team (Kentucky). He’s had a pretty good NBA career.

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Relatively speaking: Kostas Antetokounmpo, brother of you-know-who is playing for Dayton; At USC, there’s Charles O’Bannon, son of Charles, and nephew of Ed, both of rival UCLA fame; Indiana’s Devonte Green is the brother of the Spurs Danny; Juwan Howard’s son Joshua is at Brown, and Hall of Famer David Robinson (the Admiral) has his son Justin, (the Ensign?) playing at Duke.

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Trivia Time: Who is the Ivy League’s all-time leading scorer? Answer at the end of the column?

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Marquette’s sophomore guard Markus Howard, one of the Big East’s top shooters, was just 18 years old in December….Trae Young is having a great year, but the Oklahoma freshman is also leading the country in turnovers…..Best little man in the nation has to be Mount St. Mary’s Junior Robinson, who, at 5-5, is averaging 21.9 points per game along with 5.4 assists….Going into tonight’s game with Dayton, St. Joe’s is third in the nation in fewest turnovers (151). Davidson is tops at 145….

Question of the week: What is the one word (no profanity please) mostly used by coaches during a game?

Answer: ” Hey.”

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Answer to Trivia Time: Princeton great Bill Bradley is still the leader with 2,503 points.