Got thinking about Frank (even more so than Chuckwu) the other day and wondering if he could potentially put a nice leap together as a senior. I wouldn't expect a huge numbers increase or for him to all of a sudden make all the right decisions, but cut down on TOs, up the shooting % and overall efficiency and all of a sudden you have a pretty impressive senior.
Anyway, it got me thinking about all the special senior seasons we've gotten to witness as Cuse fans through the years. So I decided to try and rank out the top 10 senior seasons for the past 25 years with the following caveats in mind:
1) It's completely arbitrary so if you hate where someone is ranked, feel free to flip out.
2) I'm not a huge fan of advanced basketball metrics b/c I really think you can tell a ton from the traditional numbers. if people want to make advanced metrics arguments about what an idiot I am, however, I'm good with that.
3) You get extra credit for being on a good team -- Rak, White, Shump and Nichols get hurt by this the most and, to be honest, it's probably not really fair to those guys. But I also think a truly great season should reflect the team's record to at least a slight degree.
So first -- honorable mentions and notable omissions
Honorable mentions: Onuaku (unstoppable in the post), Sims (7.4 assists/game in an excellent senior year), Damone and Josh Pace (his versatility was huge). Edit: Realized I never went back and finished this list once I finalized the top 10. So, for good measure, I need to add Rak (17.5 and 9), RJ (13 and 11), Shump (20.7 and 6).
Notable omissions (good players but either didn't fit criteria or didn't have huge senior seasons): Burgan, KJo (better as a soph), Hart (never really had great numbers), Devo (not really a traditional senior year), Wes (not really a senior), Triche (numbers got worse each year)/.
So with that said, here we go (in reverse order):
10. Andrew White (16-17) -- 18.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg; 44/83/40 -- 19-15, NIT 2nd rd; All-ACC 3rd Team
White ends up on a truly dysfunctional team for half the season and his season is largely one-dimensional but a couple things should be mentioned here. Kid came in and had to learn the defense and then was mis-cast as a 2 for a chunk of the year. They move him to the 3 and, in my mind, he was solid defensively by the time the latter portion of the ACC sked rolled around. Also, I'm not sure I remember anyone who actually played better against tougher competition in ACC/Big East play. Dude's numbers in conference -- 20 ppg, 45/88/41. Take out a couple clunkers vs. Duke and Louisville and the numbers are even better. Really a phenomenal offensive player. Hard to put him higher though given the record as well as the weird makeup of the team where his alpha dog qualities seemed to sort of marginalize Lydon (this still baffles me).
9. Demetris Nichols (06-07) -- 19 ppg, 5.5 rpg; 45/85/42 shooting -- 24-11 NIT quarterfinals; First Team All-BE
Nichols is unquestionably hurt by playing on one of the weirder Cuse teams in this era. Devendorf is solid and Rautins has promise but is still figuring it out. Other than that? Watkins is good defender but brings zero to the table offensively, Roberts works hard but has huge holes in his game, Harris was a huge recruit but struggles to find his role at this level and Josh Wright was, well, Josh Wright. The other knock, IMO, is that Nichols' year is a bit one-dimensional. Never became an impact defender and never was much of a rebounder. Having said that, phenomenally consistent offensive year and a first-team all BE nod is pretty impressive.
8. Gmac (05-06) -- 16 ppg, 6 apg, 3 rpg; 35/90/33 -- 23-12, BET champs; BET MVP
Tough to rank GMac's senior season b/c the raw numbers aren't great. But then you've got the fact that he literally owned the BET for a week by hitting big shots for the entire tourney and we wind up with a second straight BET title. That's pretty sick. The other thing to think about here: If GMac doesn't go off in NYC, we would have had a first-round NCAA exit followed by three straight NIT teams. It's hard to overstate just how phenomenal that tourney run was AND how desperately we needed it (given the next couple years).
7. Etan Thomas (99-00) -- 13.6, 9 rpg, 3 bpg; 61% FG, 67% FT -- 26-6, regular season BE champs, Sweet 16
Etan's numbers aren't eye-popping, but his 3 blks a game is crazy and this was a really good team that just had the misfortune of drawing MSU in the sweet 16. Not crazy to think they could have a round or two deeper with a different draw. Regardless, Etan set the standard (IMO) as the center of the zone and while I know some like Watkins or Fab, he's the guy I'd run with as the ideal center for this defense. Very efficient down low too and improved a ton in five years.
6. Gbinije (15-16) -- 17.5 ppg, 4 apg, 4 rpg; 46/66/39; 71 steals -- 23-14, Final Four
G is tough to rank, IMO, b/c his numbers are outstanding and he did an admirable job playing the point out of desperation. Having said that it was a pretty brutal season for this team until the surprise inclusion in the tourney and then the 4-win run in the dance. G was a really, really good player for us but I'd argue the story of our run in the postseason was more attributable to MSU getting upset, Roberson playing like a man possessed and Mali going absolutely crazy vs. UVA. So need to give G a ton of credit for an excellent and consistent senior campaign and being a big part of a deep run, but ultimately I'm guessing I may have him a bit lower than some other folks.
5. Autry (93-94) -- 17 ppg, 6 apg, 5 rpg; 45/78/37; Sweet 16, First-team All BE
Red had frustrating career at times and this team was pretty talented (Wallace, Luke Jackson, Moten, Hill, Reafsnyder) and even this year was a little up and down with 115 turnovers (always a problem for Red). But still, those are really solid numbers and this team found itself in the sweet 16 with a tough loss to a loaded Mizzou team. As good as Moten and Wallace were, Red was the guy who ran the team and he was really good in that role and he got the nod on All-BE first team, which is pretty crazy in this era.
4. Moten (94-95) -- 19.6 ppg, 3.3 apg, 4 rpg; 46/74/33; NCAA second round; 20-10; All BE 1st Team
Moten's raw numbers are good, not great, but dude was a scoring machine and despite clearly being the target of every defense we played by this time, he still just kept scoring. I knock him slightly for this team underachieving a bit -- Wallace/Jackson/Lloyd/Moten feels like it should have beenmore like the team that started 14-1 than the team that lost 9 of it's next 15. But ultimately first team all-BE is tough to ignore.
3. Rautins (09-10) -- 12 ppg, 5 apg, 3.4 rpg; 44/81.5/41; 2 steals/game Sweet 16, 3rd team all BE, regular season BE champs, Third-team All BE
So I'm a huge Rautins fan and, quite frankly, I know people will hate this. But this team was third in offensive rating and 33rd (out of 341 teams) in defensive rating making them, for my money, the best team we've had since the title team in '03 and those two teams (along with maybe 11-12) were the best teams since the glory days of the late 80s. They were nasty on both ends of the floor and a lot of that started with Rautins who was the best defender, a super creative passer who was always looking to push tempo, and a guy who could impact a game without ever scoring. Oh, and he made 41% from three and hit some huge shots. I have no idea if it's true but I'll always believe they win the title with a healthy Arinze.
2. Hak (04-05) -- 21.4 ppg, 9 rpg; 55% FG/68% FT; BET MVP, BE POY; won BET, lost to UVM in rd 1
So a couple things -- the UVM loss is a killer and i could see some arguing that it should reflect more in Hak's ranking, but dude was a complete stud all year and this team won a BET tourney which, being sort of old school, I still love. He was also BE POY, which was huge as well. Just a consistently dominating season that could have made a push for no. 1 if there was more postseason success.
1. Wallace (95-96) -- 22 ppg, 9 rpg; 49/76/42; Reached title game; first team All BE
The numbers speak for themselves to a large extent as Wallace was obviously ridiculous. Led the team in scoring in 30 of 38 games. But his spot on this list is cemented by the tourney run. Put up 18 in the blowout against montana state, then 18 and 7 with five assists and five blks against Drexel. The huge pass to Cipolla against Georgia, followed by the huge 3 to win it. Finished that game with 30 and 15. 15 and 9 in a not great game against KU but then had 21 against MSU. Also put up 29 and 10 against a completely stacked UK team in the final. Crazy run and huge season.
Anyway, it got me thinking about all the special senior seasons we've gotten to witness as Cuse fans through the years. So I decided to try and rank out the top 10 senior seasons for the past 25 years with the following caveats in mind:
1) It's completely arbitrary so if you hate where someone is ranked, feel free to flip out.
2) I'm not a huge fan of advanced basketball metrics b/c I really think you can tell a ton from the traditional numbers. if people want to make advanced metrics arguments about what an idiot I am, however, I'm good with that.
3) You get extra credit for being on a good team -- Rak, White, Shump and Nichols get hurt by this the most and, to be honest, it's probably not really fair to those guys. But I also think a truly great season should reflect the team's record to at least a slight degree.
So first -- honorable mentions and notable omissions
Honorable mentions: Onuaku (unstoppable in the post), Sims (7.4 assists/game in an excellent senior year), Damone and Josh Pace (his versatility was huge). Edit: Realized I never went back and finished this list once I finalized the top 10. So, for good measure, I need to add Rak (17.5 and 9), RJ (13 and 11), Shump (20.7 and 6).
Notable omissions (good players but either didn't fit criteria or didn't have huge senior seasons): Burgan, KJo (better as a soph), Hart (never really had great numbers), Devo (not really a traditional senior year), Wes (not really a senior), Triche (numbers got worse each year)/.
So with that said, here we go (in reverse order):
10. Andrew White (16-17) -- 18.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg; 44/83/40 -- 19-15, NIT 2nd rd; All-ACC 3rd Team
White ends up on a truly dysfunctional team for half the season and his season is largely one-dimensional but a couple things should be mentioned here. Kid came in and had to learn the defense and then was mis-cast as a 2 for a chunk of the year. They move him to the 3 and, in my mind, he was solid defensively by the time the latter portion of the ACC sked rolled around. Also, I'm not sure I remember anyone who actually played better against tougher competition in ACC/Big East play. Dude's numbers in conference -- 20 ppg, 45/88/41. Take out a couple clunkers vs. Duke and Louisville and the numbers are even better. Really a phenomenal offensive player. Hard to put him higher though given the record as well as the weird makeup of the team where his alpha dog qualities seemed to sort of marginalize Lydon (this still baffles me).
9. Demetris Nichols (06-07) -- 19 ppg, 5.5 rpg; 45/85/42 shooting -- 24-11 NIT quarterfinals; First Team All-BE
Nichols is unquestionably hurt by playing on one of the weirder Cuse teams in this era. Devendorf is solid and Rautins has promise but is still figuring it out. Other than that? Watkins is good defender but brings zero to the table offensively, Roberts works hard but has huge holes in his game, Harris was a huge recruit but struggles to find his role at this level and Josh Wright was, well, Josh Wright. The other knock, IMO, is that Nichols' year is a bit one-dimensional. Never became an impact defender and never was much of a rebounder. Having said that, phenomenally consistent offensive year and a first-team all BE nod is pretty impressive.
8. Gmac (05-06) -- 16 ppg, 6 apg, 3 rpg; 35/90/33 -- 23-12, BET champs; BET MVP
Tough to rank GMac's senior season b/c the raw numbers aren't great. But then you've got the fact that he literally owned the BET for a week by hitting big shots for the entire tourney and we wind up with a second straight BET title. That's pretty sick. The other thing to think about here: If GMac doesn't go off in NYC, we would have had a first-round NCAA exit followed by three straight NIT teams. It's hard to overstate just how phenomenal that tourney run was AND how desperately we needed it (given the next couple years).
7. Etan Thomas (99-00) -- 13.6, 9 rpg, 3 bpg; 61% FG, 67% FT -- 26-6, regular season BE champs, Sweet 16
Etan's numbers aren't eye-popping, but his 3 blks a game is crazy and this was a really good team that just had the misfortune of drawing MSU in the sweet 16. Not crazy to think they could have a round or two deeper with a different draw. Regardless, Etan set the standard (IMO) as the center of the zone and while I know some like Watkins or Fab, he's the guy I'd run with as the ideal center for this defense. Very efficient down low too and improved a ton in five years.
6. Gbinije (15-16) -- 17.5 ppg, 4 apg, 4 rpg; 46/66/39; 71 steals -- 23-14, Final Four
G is tough to rank, IMO, b/c his numbers are outstanding and he did an admirable job playing the point out of desperation. Having said that it was a pretty brutal season for this team until the surprise inclusion in the tourney and then the 4-win run in the dance. G was a really, really good player for us but I'd argue the story of our run in the postseason was more attributable to MSU getting upset, Roberson playing like a man possessed and Mali going absolutely crazy vs. UVA. So need to give G a ton of credit for an excellent and consistent senior campaign and being a big part of a deep run, but ultimately I'm guessing I may have him a bit lower than some other folks.
5. Autry (93-94) -- 17 ppg, 6 apg, 5 rpg; 45/78/37; Sweet 16, First-team All BE
Red had frustrating career at times and this team was pretty talented (Wallace, Luke Jackson, Moten, Hill, Reafsnyder) and even this year was a little up and down with 115 turnovers (always a problem for Red). But still, those are really solid numbers and this team found itself in the sweet 16 with a tough loss to a loaded Mizzou team. As good as Moten and Wallace were, Red was the guy who ran the team and he was really good in that role and he got the nod on All-BE first team, which is pretty crazy in this era.
4. Moten (94-95) -- 19.6 ppg, 3.3 apg, 4 rpg; 46/74/33; NCAA second round; 20-10; All BE 1st Team
Moten's raw numbers are good, not great, but dude was a scoring machine and despite clearly being the target of every defense we played by this time, he still just kept scoring. I knock him slightly for this team underachieving a bit -- Wallace/Jackson/Lloyd/Moten feels like it should have beenmore like the team that started 14-1 than the team that lost 9 of it's next 15. But ultimately first team all-BE is tough to ignore.
3. Rautins (09-10) -- 12 ppg, 5 apg, 3.4 rpg; 44/81.5/41; 2 steals/game Sweet 16, 3rd team all BE, regular season BE champs, Third-team All BE
So I'm a huge Rautins fan and, quite frankly, I know people will hate this. But this team was third in offensive rating and 33rd (out of 341 teams) in defensive rating making them, for my money, the best team we've had since the title team in '03 and those two teams (along with maybe 11-12) were the best teams since the glory days of the late 80s. They were nasty on both ends of the floor and a lot of that started with Rautins who was the best defender, a super creative passer who was always looking to push tempo, and a guy who could impact a game without ever scoring. Oh, and he made 41% from three and hit some huge shots. I have no idea if it's true but I'll always believe they win the title with a healthy Arinze.
2. Hak (04-05) -- 21.4 ppg, 9 rpg; 55% FG/68% FT; BET MVP, BE POY; won BET, lost to UVM in rd 1
So a couple things -- the UVM loss is a killer and i could see some arguing that it should reflect more in Hak's ranking, but dude was a complete stud all year and this team won a BET tourney which, being sort of old school, I still love. He was also BE POY, which was huge as well. Just a consistently dominating season that could have made a push for no. 1 if there was more postseason success.
1. Wallace (95-96) -- 22 ppg, 9 rpg; 49/76/42; Reached title game; first team All BE
The numbers speak for themselves to a large extent as Wallace was obviously ridiculous. Led the team in scoring in 30 of 38 games. But his spot on this list is cemented by the tourney run. Put up 18 in the blowout against montana state, then 18 and 7 with five assists and five blks against Drexel. The huge pass to Cipolla against Georgia, followed by the huge 3 to win it. Finished that game with 30 and 15. 15 and 9 in a not great game against KU but then had 21 against MSU. Also put up 29 and 10 against a completely stacked UK team in the final. Crazy run and huge season.
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