Getting Excited for Basketball

While GU fans anxiously await the release of the men's basketball schedule (TKR has been assured that it will be sometime this week), there has been no shortage of college basketball articles being released recently.

- Luke Winn of CNNSI wrote an article that mentions Austin Daye as a potential breakout star. Winn uses as efficiency rating based on the number of minutes played and possessions used this past season. Some of the other players mentioned, all but one of which are sophomores, include Dar Tucker (Depaul), LaceDarius Dunn (Baylor), Booker Woodfox (Creighton), and Corey Chandler (Rutgers).

Here is what Winn has to say about Austin Daye:

Austin Daye
6-10 Small Forward
Gonzaga, Soph.
Pct. Minutes Played in '07-08: 45.6 Pct.
Possessions Used in '07-08: 27.3
Offensive Efficiency Rating: 108.7

The NBA knows that Daye, a stringbean of a small forward, has star potential. He's already projected as the No. 4 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by DraftExpress. Daye had limited opportunities to star as a freshman on a deep Zags roster, ranking seventh on the team in average minutes per game (18.5). Yet he was the team's highest-usage player while he was on the floor, and he will be their most-efficient returner in the frontcourt. If a sizable chunk of the minutes vacated by the departures of forwards David Pendergraft and Abdullahi Kuso go to Daye, and he's more forceful at drawing contact and getting to the free-throw line (where he's an 88.1 percent shooter), he could have a huge sophomore year.

I found it funny how after Chad Ford declared that Austin was no longer a surefire lottery pick, that Austin is considered the 4th overall pick of the 2010 draft by this website. It really shows how different opinions can be about a certain player.

- In other college basketball news, St. Mary's will represent the WCC during the opening day "Hoops Marathon" on ESPN. November 18 will see 23 consecutive hours of college basketball being played on the ESPN family of networks. The highlight of the day will be UNC vs. Kentucky, but it should be exciting to see St. Mary's host Fresno St. The game will be shown on ESPN, and will begin at 11:00 PM. While this is a strange start time for the game, it should hopefully give St.Mary's some well-deserved national exposure.