Freshman bursts onto national spotlight
Associated Press
If it had been a home court victory, Wildcat faithful would've taken to the court. No Wildcat fans were in attendance for the biggest victory in the history of the basketball program. Taking on an undefeated LSU squad, the Wildcats won by double digits led by the best freshman no one has heard of. Dyron McCormick was given national recognition after earning freshman of the week honors from the NCAA playing a huge role in his teams victory against LSU.
It doesn't say much when a player posts massive statistics against sub-par talent, it is the greatest argument when it comes to the mid-major versus power conference squads and especially the stats of the individual players. It is also inversely positive, when a small school has a player post huge stat totals against power conference schools, especially on national television, it tends to turn heads.
Dyron McCormick simply did what he has been doing all season. "It's unreal, to go from strongly considering junior college to have the national spotlight. I had no scholarship six months ago, now I'm considered great.." spoke McCormick in a brief interview with ESPN. The Compton, California native slipped under the radar in a fertile recruiting ground, local colleges simply passed over him seeing him as too raw to be worthwhile. Making the trip to the opposite corner of the country had to be a huge upheaval but it kept him in position to continue his basketball career.
With highs of 24 points and twenty rebounds already in his young career, while averaging an insane 4.1 blocks per game, McCormick has been huge for the Wildcats whom came into the season as the worst team in the America East and has turned their fortunes into a top three finish for their conference, at least projected as such, after only a month of play.
Where does Dyron rank? He is number one in the nation with 4.1 blocks, sixth overall in the America East with 14 PPG, 3rd overall in America East with 9.1 RPG, while 8th nationally amongst freshman for his rebound totals. Needless to say, he is a heavy front runner for Conference Freshman and Conference player of the year, will he make a run for national player of the year? He could if New Hampshire makes some noise throughout the season and post season.
"There are a lot of quotes about learning from losses I could quote, we returned all except one player from our squad last year. This team has unity, Dyron has fit in perfectly and people seem to underestimate us simply because we lack the recruiting star power? It is huge when as a team, everyone knows eachothers strengths and weaknesses and are able to move to cover eachothers flaws and allow our strengths to shine" Spoke Tyler Kroyle.
With five games remaining before they hit America East conference play starting January first, this team could run the table until than. A 1-4 Penn squad is less than a competitive game, although the Wildcats have struggled under Kroyle against Ivy League programs, the following week they travel to Princeton on Sunday evening to conclude their three game road trip and two game Ivy League schedule. Princeton is 3-1 at home, and could cause some problems for the Wildcats. Their biggest threat comes against Shaka Smart and the Virginia Commonwealth Rams. The Rams are notable for making runs under smart into the post season. This is one of his weaker teams to date but are fierce rebounders. If they control the glass against Dyron McCormick and Kazadi Nyanguila, this could get out of hand.
Closing out with two more contests, Saint Francis of Pennsylvania will travel to New Hampshire, Saint Francis has run the table to date with an America East heavy schedule, Saint Francis could potentially make the matchup undefeated but will play #23 Syracuse on the fourteenth that will likely end their win streak. Saint Francis is primed for a run towards their first tournament appearance since 1991, knocking off New Hampshire would be huge and this is a winnable game for both sides.
Finally, the 2012 year will come to a close for the Wildcats with a matchup on Sunday, the 28th against Central Connecticut whom is just a shell of a team that beat the Wildcats by twenty a year ago. Having lost their coach to a bigger job, the team has stumbled to 2-5, unlikely to repeat their success of a tournament bid like they had a year ago.