In November everyone was asking who would be the next Kevin Durant. Unless you’ve been living in a shoe, it should come as no surprise that Michael Beasley has lived up to the hype.
Player, Team PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Kevin Durant, Texas 25.8 11.1 1.3 116.5 53.6
Michael Beasley, Kansas St. 24.8 12.6 1.2 117.3 59.5
But let’s check how the other Freshman McDonald’s All Americans are doing. As usual, almost all are contributing in a big way.
The Extreme Jealousy Group PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Eric Gordon, Indiana 22.1 3.2 2.4 118.4 59.6
Jerryd Bayless, Arizona 19.5 2.9 4.5 111.1 54.7
James Harden, Arizona St. 18.5 5.3 2.6 122.1 60.8
Donte Greene, Syracuse 18.4 7.8 1.9 114.2 55.3
Kevin Love, UCLA 17.3 10.7 1.9 128.7 61.1
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky 16.8 8.0 1.8 117.5 58.0
I'll get my points, but it might take awhile
O.J. Mayo, USC 19.7 4.6 3.2 98.4 51.4
Nick Calathes, Florida 16.0 4.9 5.9 113.3 49.5
Kosta Koufos, Ohio St. 13.6 6.7 0.5 106.5 50.9
Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech 7.3 3.9 0.2 98.9 60.0
Calathes has a low shooting percentage because he has to take a lot of tough shots for his young team, but he is already a star distributor.
Almost Spectacular PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
James Anderson, Okl. St. 15.6 3.3 1.1 107.6 54.2
J.J. Hickson, NC State 15.5 7.9 0.9 112.3 63.9
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse 15.4 2.4 5.2 114.4 54.3
Blake Griffin, Oklahoma 14.5 8.6 1.6 112.6 59.3
Derrick Rose, Memphis 14.1 3.9 4.2 108.1 52.3
Kyle Singler, Duke 13.2 6.1 1.4 113.8 57.8
Austin Freeman, Georgetown 10.1 2.7 1.6 134.0 69.5
Jai Lucas, Florida 9.7 1.9 2.3 108.1 56.2
The efficiency stats tell you that James Harden has almost as many points as Mayo without nearly as many shots. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Mayo is shooting too much. His shooting volume draws double teams and makes his teammates better.
Along these lines, I think JJ Hickson should actually be more selfish and take more shots given his efficiency relative to his teammates. On the flip side, Austin Freeman can afford to be selective and take only good shots because he plays for a talented Georgetown team.
Next Year PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Taylor King, Duke 9.1 2.6 0.7 118.4 63.2
Nolan Smith, Duke 6.5 1.7 2.2 103.0 51.9
Cole Aldrich, Kansas 3.2 3.4 0.2 108.3 51.1
Corey Stokes, Villanova 3.2 2.4 0.6 87.2 31.6
Taylor King’s minutes have been limited, but he really makes the most of the time that he is in the game. Corey Stokes is the only MAA freshman to really struggle this year.
But why stop with just the freshman. Here are the sophomore McDonald’s All Americans who stayed in school:
The Extreme Jealousy Group PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
D.J. Augustin, Texas 20.8 2.9 6.0 120.8 55.1
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova 17.4 3.1 4.1 111.3 52.6
Wayne Ellington, UNC 16.8 3.8 1.9 125.6 55.0
Tywon Lawson, UNC 13.9 2.8 5.8 119.4 58.5
I'll get my points, but it might take awhile
Chase Budinger, Arizona 17.3 5.5 3.0 102.7 51.2
Brook Lopez, Stanford 17.2 8.3 1.0 107.5 46.7
Just Win Baby PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Darrell Arthur, Kansas 13.4 5.7 0.6 105.9 53.5
Jon Scheyer, Duke 11.1 4.4 2.2 127.3 56.3
Tweety Carter, Baylor 9.2 1.7 2.7 114.3 56.8
Sherron Collins, Kansas 8.9 2.1 2.8 107.0 54.8
I expected more PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Gerald Henderson, Duke 13.0 4.7 1.7 102.5 49.4
Earl Clark, Louisville 11.3 9.2 1.6 96.5 43.8
Lance Thomas, Duke 4.1 2.9 0.3 95.0 48.6
Vernon Macklin, Georgetown 3.8 2.2 0.9 109.4 63.8
And the Juniors:
The Extreme Jealousy Group PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Tyler Hansbrough, UNC 22.0 10.1 0.9 128.1 54.5
Richard Hendrix, Alabama 19.3 10.3 1.7 122.9 64.3
Jon Brockman, Washington 18.8 11.8 1.3 110.9 55.0
Mario Chalmers, Kansas 12.4 2.9 4.8 130.8 67.7
Danny Green, UNC 12.1 5.2 2.4 122.8 57.1
I'll get my points, but it might take awhile
Brandon Costner, NC State 10.1 5.4 2.3 96.2 47.3
Byron Eaton, Okl. St. 9.6 3.2 3.1 104.8 40.8
Just Win Baby PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Greg Paulus, Duke 9.1 1.9 3.5 119.8 60.1
Micah Downs, Gonzaga 8.9 4.3 1.5 105.9 53.1
Luke Zeller, Notre Dame 4.9 2.8 0.4 126.5 57.9
Eric Boateng, Arizona St. 4.4 3.0 0.2 85.7 63.2
Note that I a have note listed injured or inactive players, Chris Wright, Eric Devendorf, Korvotney Barber, Tasmin Mitchell, Bobby Frasor, and Mike Williams. I also do not include James Keefe who was only recently activated for the UCLA lineup.
Even without the NBA draft rule, very few McDonald’s All-Americans last more than 3 years in college.
Seniors PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
Malik Hairston, Oregon 18.0 4.8 2.1 124.5 63.9
DJ White, Indiana 17.1 10.2 0.8 120.0 63.3
Joe Crawford, Kentucky 16.0 3.6 2.6 105.5 51.5
Demarcus Nelson, Duke 14.1 5.9 2.9 112.5 58.4
Jawann McClellan, Arizona 8.6 3.8 2.9 99.6 48.3
Fifth Year Seniors PPG RPG APG ORtng eFG%
JR Giddens New Mexico 13.6 8.7 3.1 107.9 52.5
Brian Butch Wisconsin 12.8 7.6 1.0 104.7 44.7
Drew Lavendar Xavier 11.9 2.7 5.0 127.2 56.4
David Padgett Louisville 11.1 5.0 1.1 136.0 75.6
Why has Brian Butch taken 29 threes this year? He has only made 3 of them.
Hairston, White, and Lavendar are having incredibly efficient years, and Nelson has become the leading scorer on a top 5 team. Padgett has also been terrific when healthy.