Off The Boards by Jack Scheuer – February 21, 2018 Edition

Off The Boards

By Jack Scheuer

February 21, 2018 Edition

There has been much written about how Oklahoma’s Trae Young will be the first Division I player to lead the nation in points and assists.  While the 6-2 Sooner sophomore may be the first to officially accomplish that feat , there certainly should be an asterisk or two to go along with the honor.  In 1951-52 Duke’s All-American guard Dick Groat (later a baseball All-Star) led the nation in scoring and according to a Durham newspaper, also averaged 7.6 assists.  However, assists did not become official until the 1983-84 season.  Starting in 1957, all-time great Oscar Robertson topped the country in scoring in all three of his seasons at Cincinnati U, and there is very little doubt (like none) that he was also the assist leader.  But again, not officially.  So congrats to young Trae if he leads in both categories, but lets be real. He might be the first freshman to do it, but not the first player.

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In last week’s column, it was mentioned that 2 players who, at one time, played for the same Big 5 school, (Jameer Nelson and Langston Galloway ) also became teammates on an NBA team.  Thanks to some in-depth research by the Inquirer’s astute Mike Jensen, we now know that Nova’s Michael Bradley and Alvin Williams also played together in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors.

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Trivia Time: Who is the all-time scoring leader at Syracuse? Answer at the end of the column.

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Great to see the news about Maurice Cheeks and the Basketball Hall of Fame. This quiet, unassuming man went on to became one of the most popular players in Sixers history.  He was also the epitome of the pure point guard, and certainly deserves to be honored

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This and That : More on Dick Groat, who finished his career on a rather high note.  In his final college game he went for 48 against bitter rival North Carolina….J.J. Redick  (126 for 134) leads the NBA in foul shooting at 94 %.  The single season record is held by Jose Calderon (Toronto) who in 2008-09 made 151 of 154 from the line for 98.5 %….Devonte Green, a sophomore guard averaging 8 points per game at Indiana, is the brother of San Antonio’s Danny….Jim Christian has turned things around at Boston College.  His Eagles were 9-23, 2-16 last season.  This year they are 16 – 12, 6 – 9 in the ACC…. No.3 Villanova  is home with DePaul tonight, then has a tough one at Creighton on Saturday….Finally, we go to the cool name department: Lexus Williams is a 6-0 freshman guard averaging 9 points per game at Boise State.  The coaches say he has a high motor.

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Trivia Answer: Lawrence Moten scored 2,334 points (and you thought it was Derrick Coleman).

 

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