These days anything goes when it comes to hairstyles for athletes; so when someone starts letting his hair grow longer, it doesn't necessarily mean he is planning on turning it into dreads. Maybe a couple of years ago it did; but not anymore. So whenever there is a player with short hair who begins to grow it out, I don't really keep track of him as closely as I used to. In the case of SMU F Ben Moore I can't honestly say I even noticed him at all during the first three months of the season; but even if I had, I wouldn't have expected him to suddenly convert his hair into dreads. So it definitely was a pleasant surprise when on Jan. 30 .....
1. ..... he suddenly did convert his hair to dreads, debuting his beginner dreads during the Mustangs' home game against Memphis, and debuting them the right way, at that. It's nice to see someone start his dreads with dreads on the sides of his head too instead of having partial dreads like so many do now. Moore has a couple of close encounters with F Dedric Lawson in these two photos. The caption for the right photo said that Moore had his shot blocked by Lawson; but that doesn't show up anywhere in the official game play-by-play. More likely this is the play early in the 1st half where Lawson was called for a foul on Moore - even though it looks like Lawson has all ball and it's actually Shaq Goodwin who's hitting Moore's arm. On the left Moore goes to the floor trying to make sure SMU doesn't turn the ball over on a possession early in 2nd half. With Moore contributing 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots in 33 minutes in his first game with dreads, SMU improved to 19-1 with an 80-68 win over Memphis.
.
2. Even though G Josh Perkins tries to yank his arm off, Ben Moore refuses to let go of this rebound during 2nd half at Dallas on Feb. 13. Moore, a 6-8, 205-pound junior, had 16 points (7-10 FG), 4 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, and 3 steals in the Mustangs' 69-60 win over Gonzaga.
.
3. Ben Moore catches the alley-oop pass from G Nic Moore (#11) above F Daniel Hamilton and slams it home, upping SMU's lead to 57-38 over UConn with 9:33 remaining on Mar. 3. Moore finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds, and SMU finished 16-1 at home after routing Connecticut 80-54. The Mustangs had one of their best teams ever (25-5) but didn't get to play in the NCAA Tournament (or even the AAC tournament) because they were banned from postseason play for one year on account of Coach Brown's misdeeds. Moore ended up shooting 54.9% from the field and averaging 11.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 2.2 APG and leading the team with 41 blocked shots. Moore would get to play in the NCAA Tournament as a senior; but just like in his sophomore season, the Mustangs lost their 1st round game by 1 point.
Just a reminder .... Unless you have a giant-screen monitor, many (but not all) of the photos I'm posting are actually larger than they appear on your screen. So if you first click on the thumbnail photo to make it larger and then save the larger photo, you'll get the full size picture and get a bigger and better view of the dreads. That's certainly the case with these three photos.
.
4. Damion Lee gets his first dunk in a Louisville uniform, increasing the Cardinals' lead to 71-35 over Samford with 8:14 remaining in the season opener on Nov. 13. Lee tied for the team lead with 14 points in his first game with dreads and added 5 rebounds as Louisville won very easily 86-45.
After graduating from Drexel in 4 years with one season of eligibility remaining, Lee transferred to Louisville for his senior season, hoping to get to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
.
5. Here you get a great view of Damion Lee's partial dreads (left photo) as he drives to the basket against Michigan State F Deyonta Davis on Dec. 2. After grabbing a rebound at the other end a few seconds earlier, Lee picks up his 4th turnover of the game as he runs over G Lourawls Nairn (right photo) and is called for an offensive foul with 3:47 remaining in the game. The turnover came in the middle of a drought in which the Cardinals went scoreless for nearly 4 minutes, allowing the Spartans to go on a 7-0 run and take a 65-58 lead. Damion finished with 23 points and 5 steals, but the Cardinals suffered their 1st loss of the season, 71-67 at #3 ranked Michigan State, in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.
.
6. After playing and winning their next 6 games at home to improve to 11-1, the Cardinals played their 2nd road game of the season at #12 ranked Kentucky on Dec. 26. Damion Lee, a 6-6, 210-pound G, drives against G Charles Matthews (left photo) during 1st half on a play that ended with him missing a shot. Later Damion celebrates (right photo) after making one of his two 3-pointers in the game.
.
7. Damion Lee scored 27 points against Kentucky, but what everybody will always remember the most were the three points he didn't score on this shot (left photo) defended by F Alex Poythress that would have won the game for Louisville. G Donovan Mitchell comes over to give Damion a shoulder to cry on (right photo) after his missed 3-pointer from the left sideline at the buzzer allows UK to escape with a 75-73 victory.
http://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-men/article51697085.html
.
8. This time Damion Lee hits the 3-pointer (left photo) just before the buzzer, as G Justin Bibbs steps out too late to distract him, to up Louisville's lead over Virginia Tech to 38-34 at halftime on Jan. 27 at Blacksburg. It was the fourth of the season high 6 3-pointers Lee made in the game. Earlier in the same game Lee dribbles past G Jalen Hudson (right photo). Damion scored in double figures in 26 of the 30 games he played and had 20 points or more 8 times, including a season high 29 (6-8 FG, 11-12 FT) on this night as the Cardinals won 91-83.
.
9. Damion Lee gets Louisville off to a good start, dunking on North Carolina G Joel Berry (left photo) on the Cardinals' first possession of the game on Feb. 1. Lee is all smiles at the end of the game (right photo), after the Cardinals upset the #2 ranked Tar Heels 71-65. Lee shot 8 for 12 from the field and scored a game high 24 points; and the Cardinals, after seeing their 8-point lead with 5:15 remaining shrink to 2 in the final minute, held on to win and improve to 18-4.
The joy would be short-lived for Lee, however. Five days later Louisville announced they were banning themselves from postseason play for recruiting violations, meaning that Lee, whose only postseason action at Drexel was in the 2012 NIT when he was a freshman, would play his entire career without getting to the NCAA Tournament.
.
10. In his final home game on Mar. 1 Damion Lee misses a short jump shot (left photo) as F James White defends during 1st half. Lee finished with 14 points, including the last two points of the game on a pair of FT with 10.7 seconds to play, as Louisville barely beat Georgia Tech 56-53 - after which Damion said his thank yous and good-byes to the fans (right photo).
After earning all-conference honors in two of his three seasons for Drexel, Lee did the same in his only season with the Cardinals, earning a 2nd team all-ACC selection after averaging 15.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.5 SPG. After not being selected in the 2016 NBA Draft, Lee played his second season with dreads in the NBA D-League. He was doing very well for the Maine Red Claws until he injured his knee (torn ACL) just after Christmas.
.
.
12. Here's a better look at Johnathan Motley's beginner dreads (left photo), as he meets resistance in the form of F Jeff Roberson and 7-0 C Josh Henderson as he tries to score against Vanderbilt on Dec. 6. Motley had 8 points and 3 rebounds as the Bears knocked off #16 ranked Vanderbilt 69-67. Four nights earlier Motley uses a well-placed elbow to try to get Prairie View A&M F Tyler Miller out of his way (right photo) during 1st half of the Bears' 80-41 home win. Johnathan scored 23 points (11-14 FG) in 22 minutes in that game, the second of his 7 games with 20+ points.
.
13. Johnathan Motley had a hand in the face of Kansas F Cheick Diallo on all three of his jump shots in the 1st half on Jan. 2. This one (left photo) looks like the one Motley blocked with 3:15 remaining and KU up by 17. Motley finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 fouls in 21 minutes as the Bears fell to 0-3 on the road, opening Big 12 play with an embarrassing 102-74 road loss. More trouble against Kansas during 1st half on Mar. 11, as Motley tries to stop G Frank Mason on the perimeter (right photo) and gets called for a blocking foul. Motley had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and a season high 3 steals in that game, but the Bears lost 70-66 in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. The Bears lost all three games vs. Kansas, falling to 4-27 all time against the Jayhawks..
.
15. Johnathan Motley beats F Jameel McKay down the floor on a fast break (left photo) and, after taking the pass from mid-court from G Al Freeman in stride, goes to the basket for a slam dunk to cut Iowa State's lead to 20-10 midway through 1st half on Jan. 9. In the 2nd half Motley doesn't get credit for a blocked shot on this play (right photo) but should have, as he causes F Georges Niang to miss a reverse layup. Johnathan recorded his 3rd career double-double, finishing with a career high 27 points (13-15 FG) and a career high 13 rebounds in 34 minutes; and the Bears outscored the Cyclones 24-16 in the last 4:30 of the game to win at Iowa State for the 2nd year in a row, 94-89. Despite the 28-point loss at Kansas a week earlier, the Bears actually did better on the road (6-3) than at home (4-5) as they went 10-8 in the Big 12, tying with Iowa State for 6th place.
.
16. After penetration by G Lester Medford causes the Iowa State defense to fall apart, Johnathan Motley takes a pass wide open next to the basket and dunks it (left photo) to give the Bears a 78-73 lead with 3:02 remaining in 2nd half on Feb. 16 at Waco. For the 2nd straight time Motley scored 27 against Iowa State, including 7 in overtime, and had 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 blocked shots in the Bears' 100-91 victory. Early in 2nd half on Feb. 20, after taking a pass from Taurean Prince, Johnathan dunks to burn the Texas press and give Baylor a 46-26 lead at Austin. Motley hit his first 11 shots from the field, finished 12 for 13, and scored 24 points in 28 minutes as the Bears led by as many as 27 in their easy 78-64 win over the Longhorns.
After hitting 22 of 30 shots in the wins over Iowa State and Texas, Johnathan was named Big 12 player of the week: http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022216aac.html
.
17. Johnathan Motley shoots against F Sam Downey (left photo) and against F Brandon Sherrod (right photo) as Baylor takes on Yale in the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 17. Motley finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds; but Yale, playing in the tournament for the first time in 54 years, went on a 19-6 run midway through the 2nd half to take a 64-51 lead and held on for the win 79-75. The Bears, who lost as a #3 seed to #14 seed Georgia State in the 2015 tournament, lost as a #5 seed to the 12th seeded Bulldogs this time.
Motley's strong finish to the season earned him a spot on the All-Big 12's 3rd team. He led the league with a 61.4 FG% and averaged 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocked shots in only 21 minutes per game.
.
.
OK. There's one more player to mention before getting to the junior college transfers. I'm mentioning him now instead of in DG167 because I thought he was a JC transfer .....
19. It wasn't until I started getting DG168 ready that I found out that Chris Jenkins was already with the Detroit Titans - the school where Dick Vitale first started showing up on the sports radar back in the 1970's - for his sophomore season in 2015. He just didn't have dreads then. But he did for his junior season, sporting two-tone dreads as he boxes out F Nigel Snipes (right photo) during a 79-74 road loss to Western Kentucky on Dec. 22 and as he grabs a rebound against F Jalen Hayes of Oakland (left photo) during the Titans' 86-82 home loss on Jan. 16.
.
.
21. Chris Jenkins denies Valparaiso C Vashil Fernandez an easy two but gets called for a foul (left photo) early in the game on Feb. 21. Chris had just 6 points and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes as the Titans dropped to 15-13 with the 90-74 road loss. Jenkins tries to get in the way as G JT Yoho of Wright State drives (right photo) during a quarterfinal round game of the Horizon League tournament played on Mar. 6 in Detroit (but not on the Titans' home court). Jenkins shot just 2 for 11 from the field, finishing with 8 points and 9 rebounds as the Titans lost to the Raiders 82-72, ending their season with a 16-15 record. Chris was in the starting lineup for almost every game and played 32 minutes per game, averaging 12.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.4 APG, and 1 SPG.
Jenkins had similar stats during his senior season, but his dreads certainly weren't similar. It looked like he cut about half of his locks off; but at least the ones he kept were longer.
.
While doing research on Jenkins, I also found out something else I didn't know.
I had Pittsburgh G Jonathan Milligan on my list of 2016-17 JC transfers. But lookee here .....
22. Here's Milligan in action during the 2015-16 season. Milligan, a 6-2, 170-pound G - make that "ultra-quick guard", according to the Pitt website - played an average of 12 minutes in the season's first three games, scoring a season high 8 points here in the 95-79 home win over Detroit on Nov. 20. But after playing in just one more game, at Purdue on Dec. 1, he decided to redshirt for the season, apparently needing to deal with some personal matters.
.
.
24. DeAndre Davis has another close encounter with Thomas Bryant on Nov. 30. DeAndre blocked 2 shots in the game but can't get a hand on this one, instead getting called for his 5th foul as Bryant hits a jump hook in the lane with 5:39 to play. Bryant made the FT to increase Indiana's lead to 98-55 - on the way to a 112-70 victory.For the season Davis played in all 30 games, averaging 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. He also led the team and was 3rd in the SWAC with a 58.4 FG%.
In the left photo you can see the dreads of but not the face of .....
.
.
26. In DG167 we saw East Tennessee State's other two transfer players with dreads. The third is the only one who came from a junior college - 6-3, 190-pound G T.J. Cromer. It was a transition year for Cromer's hair. For most games he just had it in an afro; but here at the beginning of the season it kind of looked like dreads, as he gets one of his 2 dunks (left photo) in the 1st half of a 103-90 home win over UW-Green Bay on Nov. 17 and sets to shoot a free throw in the 86-51 road loss to Villanova on Nov. 20.
.
27. It wasn't until Feb. 25 that Cromer finally converted to real dreads, here handling the ball as Furman G Stephen Croone defends. Cromer scored in double figures in all but 4 of ETSU's games, including 13 in the 80-75 home win over Furman .....
.
28. But the real dreads didn't last for long. In the very next game on Feb. 27 T.J. Cromer was back to the look he had at the start of the season. He tries a little body English (left photo) on his 3-point attempt during 1st half against Wofford. It didn't work, and ETSU's lead stayed at 15-4. T.J. had 16 points, 1 assist, and a season high 7 turnovers (yikes!) as ETSU eked out a 71-66 victory. Cromer goes to the basket against G Larry Wideman (#24) and F Kendrec Ferrara (#30) of Furman (right photo) on Mar. 6. Cromer finished with 11 points, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover in 35 minutes as ETSU won the rubber match with Furman 84-76 in the semifinals of the SoCon tournament. Unfortunately the Buccaneers lost to SoCon final the next night, and their season ended three weeks later with a loss to Oakland in the semifinals of the first (and probably only) Vegas 16 tournament.
Cromer earned a spot on the All-Southern Conference 1st team, averaging 14.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, a team high 3.1 assists, and 1 steal in 32 minutes per game. He repeated as a 1st team selection in his senior season, during which he had dreads all year that often were reduced.
.
29. Just like Alcorn State and East Tennessee State, Tennessee State had three players with dreads in some of their games. We saw two of them in DG167. Here's the other one, 6-4, 222-pound G Johnny Woodard, defending against F Gavin Block of Ohio U (left photo) on Nov. 16 and handling the ball during TSU's 77-61 win over Reinhardt on Nov. 24 (right photo). It looked like Woodard was going to be a key contributor. He played in 7 of the Tigers' first 9 games and averaged 6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. But after that he didn't play a single minute the rest of the season; and there's no indication he was injured - he just didn't play. Hmm. Not surprisingly, he didn't return to TSU for his senior season. Perhaps he wanted to get a head start on his music career: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXJMjidKIn8
.
.
31. Treshaad Williams isn't exactly in the best position, is he, to challenge for a rebound (left photo) against G James Blackmon (#1) and F Max Bielfeldt on this play on Dec. 5. Williams finished with 5 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes in Morehead State's 92-59 road loss to Indiana, ending the Eagles' 4-game winning streak.
With their record at 19-12 after losing in the semifinals of the OVC tournament, the Eagles accepted a bid to the CBI; and in their 1st round game on Mar. 15 Williams tries to get in the way of G Nico Clareth on a drive to the basket (right photo) during an 84-80 road win over Siena. Unfortunately Treshaad didn't score at all in any of the Eagles' 6 games in the CBI; and he played a total of only 8 minutes in the best-of-3 final series, which Morehead State lost to Nevada 2-1. For the season Williams shot 64.9% from the field, but that was on an average of only 1.6 shots per game. He averaged 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10 minutes per game. After switching to jersey #1, Treshaad made a much more significant contribution during his senior season.
.
32. Two of the three players with dreads named Williams in 2015-16 were JC transfers - Treshaad Williams and Clarence Williams, a 6-8, 195-pound F for East Carolina. With the shortest dreads of the three, Clarence defends on shots by F Markus Kennedy (left photo) during a 74-63 road loss to SMU on Feb. 21 and F Nick Marshall (right photo) during an 84-83 road win over Memphis on Jan. 24. Williams was in the Pirates' starting lineup for 13 games from December until mid-January. But after the Pirates started 0-6 in the AAC, the coaching staff decided to try something else, and his playing time dropped considerably for the rest of the season.
.
For the season Clarence averaged 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13 minutes per game. It looked like he was on his way to having a much better senior season; but that all came to an end when he was dismissed from the team just before Christmas.
.
34. We're heading out west for the next three JC transfers with dreads. Before spending one season at a JC, 6-2, 180-pound G Shane Rector started his career in the SEC at Missouri; so he certainly is talented enough to do well in the MWC. And he did, combining with Chris Smith (seen in DG167) to give Utah State 24.2 PPG by players with dreads. On Nov. 24 Rector drives against Utah Valley (and former Utah State) G Marcel Davis (left photo). Rector had 7 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals as the Aggies improved to 4-0 with an 81-55 home win. For the season he led the team in assists and steals. F Loomis Gerring tries to knock the ball away from Rector but comes up empty (right photo) during 2nd half on Dec. 1. Shane finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists and hit 2 FT with 3.3 seconds to play to win the game for USU. The Aggies, two nights after losing to Duke, split their road trip at 1-1 with a 69-68 road win over Missouri State in the MWC/MVC challenge.
.
,
36. After finishing in 9th place in the MWC with a 7-11 record, USU had to play in the opening round of the conference tournament, facing 8th place Wyoming on Mar. 9. G Jeremy Lieberman is too far away to bother Shane Rector on this jump shot (left photo). Rector, as did a lot of players, has trouble trying to keep G Josh Adams from driving past him (right photo). Adams, the nation's 3rd leading scorer at 24.7 PPG, was held to 18 points, shooting just 4 of 17 from the field. Rector finished with season highs in points (24), rebounds (6), and minutes (35) as Utah State jumped to a 47-30 halftime lead and cruised to an 88-70 victory..
37. San Diego State G Trey Kell tries to pass the ball out of a double team by Shane Rector and G Chris Smith (left photo) during a MVC tournament quarterfinal game on Mar. 10; and Rector drives to the basket for a shot against Kell (right photo). A day after hitting 7 of 15 from the field, Rector shot just 1 for 9 vs. SDSU. The Aggies had a great chance to upset the top-seeded Aztecs, leading 61-59 (and with possession) with 2:30 remaining. But they went 0-5 from the field and 0-2 at the FT line on their next three possessions, fell behind 64-61 with 10 seconds left and ended up losing 71-65. Rector had 11 points, 4 rebounds, a season high 7 assists, and 2 steals in the season-ending defeat. For the season he averaged 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 23 minutes per game. Sad to say, but of all the players featured in DG168, Shane is the only one who didn't still have his dreads for the 2016-17 season.
.
.
39. Ivory Young could have been called for two fouls on this play (left photo), as he fouls G Quentin Snider with both of his hands after Snider stole the ball from him during 2nd half at Louisville on Dec. 23. Earlier, Young has his layup rejected by F Jaylen Johnson (right photo) - one of three times he had his shot blocked in the game - keeping Louisville's lead at 40-24 with 6:49 remaining in 1st half. Young finished with 8 points, 0 assists, and 3 turnovers as Louisville, which led 59-31 at the half, cruised to an easy 98-68 victory over UVU.
Hey, I'm not trying to pick on Ivory. It's just that the best photos of his dreads came in UVU's worst games. The night he scored 27 points (Jan. 30 vs. Cal State-Bakersfield) he had his dreads reduced - but I'm not posting a photo of that.
.
40. Ivory Young defends as G Martez Harrison drives to the basket during 1st half on Mar. 10 - not well enough, apparently, as Harris ended up scoring a layup. Young drives into the lane against UMKC F Shayok Shayok (right photo) in the same game. It's not a good thing when you lose in the conference tournament while wearing the white jerseys; but in this case it was only #4 seeded UVU losing to #5 UMKC. Young finished with 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists as the Wolverines lost the WAC quarterfinal 80-78 to finish the season with a 12-18 record. Young averaged 9.0 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in 27 minutes per game..
41. The W in WAC stands for Western. Never mind that the league has more schools located in the Central time zone (three) than the Pacific (two) ..... Cal State-Bakersfield is one of the two schools way out west, where the Roadrunners had two players with dreads in 2015-16. We saw the beginner (and now gone) dreads of Jaylin Airington in DG167. Now here are the much more noticeable dreads of Matt Smith. A 6-6, 190-pound F, Smith had 2 blocked shots in the 1st half on Dec. 28 and tries for another here but is called for fouling Arizona State F Willie Atwood (left photo) rather than letting him have a layup with 14:55 remaining in 2nd half and the game tied. Smith had 8 points on perfect shooting (3-3 FG, 2-2 FT) in a game that stayed close until ASU pulled away in the final 3 minutes and won 75-59. Utah Valley F Konner Frey tries to take the ball from Smith and instead almost pulls him arm off (right photo) in WAC action on Feb. 13. Smith finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals - all season highs - in 20 minutes as CSUB won their 4th in a row, 91-69 over UVU, to improve to 18-7.
.
42. Matt Smith defends against New Mexico State F Pascal Siakam (left photo) during the championship game of the WAC tournament on Mar. 12. Smith had 0 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 fouls in 14 minutes; but that wasn't going to stop him from celebrating after a 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Roadrunners their first win ever over the Aggies, 57-54, and sent them to the NCAA Tournament. Smith takes a selfie with C Aly Ahmed (right photo) during the wild celebration after the game.
.
43. The caption said this was in the 1st half (left photo), so I'm guessing this is when Matt Smith missed a layup with 4:13 to play and then fouled Oklahoma F Ryan Spangler going for the rebound during a 1st round game in the NCAA Tournament at Oklahoma City on Mar. 18. In the 2nd half Smith competes against but eventually loses to C Akolda Manyang in a tug of war for the ball (right photo). CS-Bakersfield gave OU a run for their money until the Sooners pulled away in the last 4 minutes of the game and won 82-68. Smith had 4 points and 2 rebounds in the defeat, as the Roadrunners finished with a 24-9 record. For the season Smith averaged 4.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14 minutes per game - numbers that he improved on greatly this season.
.
Johnson started only about half of the games during the season, but in every game he played at least 19 minutes.
.
45. Here's a better look at the reduced portion of Marcus Johnson's dreads (left photo), as he tries to dribble past G Jeff Lowery on Dec. 1 at Little Rock. That was the night he scored 28 points (8-12 FG, 8-8 FT) in 31 minutes in a 79-73 win over Central Arkansas - the 6th win in the Trojans' season-opening 10-game winning streak. With G Ojai Black guarding the 3-point line (right photo) Marcus steps back even further and hits his 4th 3-pointer of the game, increasing the Trojans' lead over Texas State to 45-32 early in 2nd half on Feb. 27. Johnson hit 5 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with 21 points - the last of his 5 games with 20+ points - in the 73-68 victory that clinched the SBC regular season title.
Johnson, a 5-11, 175-pounder, shot an outstanding 46.6% from 3-point range on the season.
.
.
47. Marcus Johnson guards Purdue G Dakota Mathias (left photo) during 1st half of a 1st round game in the NCAA Tournament at Denver on Mar. 17. In the 2nd half Johnson tries to hit an off-balance layup against G Johnny Hill (#1) and F Vince Edwards. I'm not sure, but I think this is when Johnson missed the shot but got fouled by Edwards with 4:06 remaining in the game. Marcus missed both FT, keeping Purdue's lead at 63-49. But thanks to a miraculous rally led by ex-dread G Josh Hagins, the Trojans got the game into overtime and eventually won 85-83 in 2 overtimes. Johnson finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals in 45 minutes as the Trojans won a game in the tournament for the first time in 30 years.
.
48. Marcus Johnson lets it fly (left photo) but can't hit this 3-pointer as G Hallice Cook defends, allowing Iowa State to maintain their 2-point lead with 7:50 to play during 1st half in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 19. Later in the game Johnson drives past G Matt Thomas (right photo) in 2nd half. Leading by 9 at halftime, Iowa State started the 2nd half on a 13-2 run to go up 20, and the Trojans never cut their deficit to less than 13 the rest of the way in their season-ending 78-61 defeat. Johnson shot just 2 for 7 and scored 9 points as the Trojans finished the season with a 30-5 record.
Marcus was named to the All-SBC 2nd team in a season where he averaged 12.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 30 minutes per game. He got even more playing time as a senior, but the Trojans didn't come anywhere close to the same success they had in 2016.
.
49. The Rutgers coaching staff convinced North Carolina native Deshawn Freeman he could help the team improve on its last place finish in the Big 10 (2-16 in 2015); and he very well might have had he not missed the last 4 months of the season with a knee injury. Freeman, who almost averaged a 20-10 (points-rebounds) in his sophomore season in JC, puts up an off-balance shot against Howard C Marcel Boyd (right photo) on Nov. 15 in his second game for the Scarlet Knights. F Jalen Jones (#23 in left photo) was not called for a foul in the game, but maybe he should have as he gets a lot of Freeman's arm while trying to steal the ball during 1st half. Freeman finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals in the 82-70 home win over Howard.
.
50. Deshawn Freeman, a 6-7, 220-pound F, gets his 3rd blocked shot of the game (left photo), stopping F Albert Christensson of Central Arkansas at the rim with 41 seconds remaining in 1st half on Nov. 21. Freeman finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, and 4 steals - all season highs - in 35 minutes and made a layup with 38 seconds to play to put Rutgers ahead for good in their 87-84 home win over the Bears.Looks like people in Las Vegas had more important things to do than go to the Rutgers-Clemson game on Nov. 25 (right photo). After taking a pass from G Bishop Daniels (#2), Freeman goes in for a layup to bring the Scarlet Knights two points closer, but they're still way behind with 1:11 remaining in the game. The last two of Freeman's 13 points made the score 71-55, and the final was 76-58 in favor of Clemson. Deshawn played one more game before being sidelined with what was a described as a sore knee. Originally expected to miss two weeks, he ended up sitting out the rest of the season. That allowed him to take a redshirt and still be a junior in 2016-17. Deshawn was a beast in the 7 games he played in 2015-16, shooting 54.4% from the field and averaging 13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 blocked shots, and 1.4 steals in 28 minutes per game.
.
.
52. T.J. Dunans puts up a shot against G Sabri Thompson (left photo) on Nov. 27. T.J. hit 8 of 12 shots in the game, but this - according to the shot chart - was one of the four he missed. He finished with 20 points and 4 rebounds, and the Tigers exploded in the 2nd half, scoring 72 points, in their 119-81 home win over Northwestern State. Dunans goes in for a dunk (right photo) to give Auburn their first lead of the game at 7-6 in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic at Honolulu on Dec. 22. Dunans shot 6 for 7 from the field and finished with 20 points; and Auburn, in a game neither team led by more than 6 points in the 2nd half, outscored New Mexico 15-7 down the stretch to win 83-78. The two 20-point games were the season high for Dunans.
After Dunans suffered a knee injury during a loss to Harvard on Dec. 23, Coach Pearl said, "It shouldn't be a long-term thing. Gosh, if it was, we'd be in a world of hurt. He should be OK." Well, Coach was wrong about Dunans being OK. But he was right about that "world of hurt" thing. The Tigers lost 11 of the 15 games during the 2 months Dunans was out.
Since he had already played in 10 games, Dunans was past the cutoff point for being eligible to redshirt; so he was back in action as soon as possible. But that wasn't until .....
.
53. After turning the ball over, T.J. Dunans makes sure Ole Miss doesn't get an easy two, as he fouls G Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey (right photo) with 7:02 remaining in 1st half on Feb. 20. It turned out to be a great foul - Fitzpatrick-Dorsey missed both FT, keeping the Rebels' lead at 27-22. After driving to the basket Dunans hits a layup as teammate Cinmeon Bowers and Ole Miss F Marcanvis Hymon look on from below (left photo), making the score 65-58 with 5:15 to play. The Tigers, however, would get no closer. In fact, this layup was their last FG of the afternoon. Dunans played 21 minutes in his first game back from injury, finishing with 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers in the 69-59 home loss to Mississippi..
54. One of the best things about T.J. Dunans during his junior season was that his dreads were at just about the perfect length for a basketball player - long enough that they really shake and not so long that you need to band them together. It makes for some really nice shots of his dreads. Against Alabama on Feb. 27 Dunans takes - and misses - a pull-up jumper against F Michael Kessens (left photo) and tries to get in the way of the driving Retin Obasohan (right photo). In a season high 38 minutes Dunans had 9 points, 5 assists, and a season high 6 turnovers as the Tigers were outscored 31-13 in the final 15 minutes of their 65-57 road loss to the Crimson Tide.
.
.
In the 16 games he played Dunans averaged 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 blocked shots, and 1.6 steals in 29 minutes per game. In his senior season in 2017 T.J.'s dreads got long enough that he had to ponytail them; and his playing time dropped a bit as the coaching staff decided to go with a youth movement. I doubt Dunans will be in the NBA next season, but he should be playing for a pro team somewhere.
.
As for the rest of the junior college transfers, we'll look at Jaylen Reid, CJ Williams, and JaQuan Smith in DG169; and at Adom Jacko in DG170. And we'll look at Keith Charleston right now .....
Charleston played his first two seasons at two different junior colleges but then has played very little in the last two seasons after transferring to Southeastern.
.
58. Keith Charleston tries to bother G Danuel House (left photo) as the Texas A&M star launches one of his 11 3-point shots (he made 6) in 1st half of the game at College Station on Nov. 16. Charleston is too late to challenge this shot by G Tai Webster (right photo) during 1st half on Nov. 22. Webster had 5 layups (made 4, missed 1) as Nebraska roared out to a 53-16 halftime lead. Charleston had 7 points vs. A&M and 4 against Nebraska as the Lions suffered their two worst losses of the season, 100-58 to the Aggies and 92-65 to the Cornhuskers.
After scoring in double figures in five of the season's first 9 games, Keith has not played since. I checked almost every news article on the team's website from 2015-16, and the most information I could get was that he missed all of the games due to injury. I don't know what the injury was, or if it was more than one injury. But he missed the final 24 games of the season and all 32 during 2016-17. He still has a season of eligibilty left; hopefully he'll be healthy enough to play next season. He did well in the games he did play, shooting 64.7% from the field and averaging 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 26 minutes per game.
Yes, I know what you're asking. You want to know who is that #23 with dreads longer than Charleston heading to the scorers table to check in vs. Texas A&M? .....
.
.
.
61. James Currington, a 6-7, 195-pound F, has a couple of close encounters with Florida State F Phil Cofer during the game on Dec. 13. In the 2nd half Currington, Cofer and F Daniel Grieves (#33) all go up for a rebound (left photo). In the right photo Currington tries to stop Cofer on a drive to the basket. Probably this is a shot of Currington fouling Cofer with 9:09 remaining in 1st half. Cofer made both FT to put FSU ahead 17-16, and the Seminoles never trailed again. Currington finished with just 2 points and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes, as the Lions dropped to 2-8 with the 75-58 road loss to Florida State. James then missed the next 13 games with an injury.
.
62. James Currington goes to the floor along with Dimi Cook and Houston Baptist F Colter Lasher (left photo) in a battle for a loose ball during a quarterfinal game in the SLC tournament on Mar. 10. Currington blocks a shot by G Anthony Odunsi (right photo) but is called for a foul during 2nd half on Mar. 10. Currington scored 5 points in 18 minutes in the season-ending 73-68 loss to HBU. The Lions finished with a 12-21 record. For the season Currington started in 5 of the 18 games he played and averaged 5.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.1 SPG while shooting 50.0% from the field. With him and (hopefully) Keith Charleston on the court for their senior seasons, Southeastern Louisiana games figure to be among the best places to be to see some great dreads next season.
.
63. Whereas James Currington had to wait almost two years to return to action following his transfer, it was nearly three years between appearances in a Division 1 game for Greg Tucker. So it's no wonder his dreads were a lot longer when he played his first game in a Jacksonville State uniform here on Nov. 13 than when we last saw him in DG144. After transferring from Northern Colorado after his freshman season in 2013, he attended a JC for two years - redshirting in 2014 and playing in 2015 - before joining the Gamecocks for 2015-16.
Unfortunately in his first game Tucker, a 6-2, 195-pound G, had a front-row seat as G Braylon Rayson put on a show for the Central Michigan fans. Tucker defends Rayson in both photos, and maybe that's a foul in the right photo. Rayson scored 12 points during the 12 minutes that Tucker played and finished with 30. Tucker had 3 points and 4 fouls as Jacksonville State lost their opener 89-83.
.
.
.
You can say this about Tucker: he's not bashful when it comes to shooting. More than half of his shots came from 3-point range, even though he hit only 31.3% of them. He averaged 9.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 24 minutes per game. There is a happy ending though. The Gamecocks improved so much in 2017 that Greg wrapped up his career playing a game in the NCAA Tournament.
.
67. In DG158 I was hesitant to add Damon Collins to the house and wondered if I should let him stay. Well, the 2015-16 season did little to help me make up my mind. Collins, a 6-5, 180-pound G/F for Howard, still had dreads that technically were dreads during his junior season, but they kind of looked like a mess. Thankfully they looked better this season, so I guess he stays. Collins drives against G Dakota Mathias (left photo) during Howard's 93-55 road loss to Purdue on Dec. 9 and defends as Texas Southern F Jose Rodriguez tries to shoot (right photo) on Nov. 23. With Collins contributing 17 points and 6 rebounds, the Bison won that game 87-81. Collins scored in double figures 15 times during the season and averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in 33 minutes per game.
.
With Colorado F Xavier Johnson having to redshirt after tearing his Achilles tendon during the offseason, there were only three Johnsons with dreads on the court in 2015-16. Earlier we saw Marcus Johnson. Now let's wrap up DG168 with the other two, beginning with .....
.
69. I pity whoever this West Virginia player is who's not watching where he's going while trying to stay with F Wesley Iwundu during 2nd half on Jan. 2 (left photo) - because running into a screen set by D.J. Johnson can be and is hazardous to your health. D.J. finished with 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals in 29 minutes as the Wildcats opened Big 12 play with a thrilling 87-83 home loss in double OT to WVU. On Jan. 16 Johnson rejects a layup by F Abdel Nader (right photo), keeping Iowa State's lead at 10 with 3:58 remaining in the game. It was one of Johnson's team-leading 29 blocked shots on the season. D.J. also had 7 points and 4 rebounds in the game, but the Wildcats lost 76-63 to fall to 1-4 in the Big 12.
.
70. This time D.J. Johnson is the shot blockee instead of blocker, as his first shot of the game -an attempted dunk - is smothered by F Jamari Traylor (left photo) with 13:05 remaining in 1st half on Feb. 3 at Lawrence. Unfortunately for Traylor K-State got the rebound; and while he was standing out of bounds still admiring his block, a pass came to Johnson wide open next to the basket for an uncontested dunk a couple of seconds later. The dunk started a 9-0 run that gave K-State a 16-7 lead; but it was all Kansas after that. Johnson had 9 points and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes, but the Jayhawks came back to lead 39-29 by halftime and went on to win 77-59.
What goes up must come down, and Johnson comes down on Oklahoma F Ryan Spangler (right photo) during the 1st half of K-State's next game on Feb. 6. The game play-by-play has Johnson being called for a shooting foul on Spangler at the 17:55 mark, so maybe this is a shot of that. But after committing 2 turnovers and a foul in the first 2:05 of the game, D.J. did pretty well after that.
.
71. According to Johnson's bio on the Kansas State website, the D.J. is short for Darrell Jerome. Here Johnson tries to make it hard for G Buddy Hield during the 2nd half on Feb. 6, but Hield makes the driving layup over him anyway, cutting the Wildcats' lead to 64-58 with 5:19 to play. D.J. celebrated his promotion to the starting lineup by hitting 5 of 6 from the field and finishing with 12 points and 8 rebounds in 23 minutes in the Wildcats' 80-69 home victory over #1 ranked Oklahoma. He remained in the starting lineup for the rest of the season.
.
.
.
74. Later in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinal game on Mar. 10 Jamari Traylor goes way up to swat away a shot by D.J. Johnson during 2nd half. But just like in photo #70 Traylor can't get no satisfaction, as he is called for a foul for bumping into Johnson with his body. D.J. made both FT, but KU still led 73-54 with 6 minutes to play. After entering the tournament with a 16-15 record, the Wildcats were going to have to do something special to extend their season. They beat Oklahoma State in round 1 but were no match for Kansas. Johnson had 10 points and 0 rebounds in 15 minutes as the Wildcats lost to the Jayhawks for the 3rd time in 5 weeks, 85-63.
For the season Johnson ended up shooting 60.8% from the field and averaging 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. One of the things D.J. needed to work on heading into his senior year was his passing, after he had only 9 assists all season in 2016 (and 52 turnovers).
.
75. Anthony Johnson, a 6-2, 190-pound G for Northern Colorado, encounters some serious resistance as he tries to shoot against Kansas forwards Clay Young and Carlton Bragg (left photo) late in 2nd half of the season opener on Nov. 13 and against forwards Tre'Shaun Fletcher and Tory Miller of Colrado (right photo) on Nov. 29. Johnson, who had 17 points and 4 rebounds in the 109-72 loss to Kansas and 18 points and 7 rebounds in the 82-52 loss to Colorado, began the season with 6 straight games in double figures. But the Bears were just 1-5 after the loss to Colorado.
.
After two seasons that left UNC fans wondering what Johnson might do if the coaching staff ever game him consistent playing time, Johnson confirmed what everybody suspected during his junior season: that, yes, he can be a big-time scorer. He played a total of 893 minutes (that's more than twice as many as in his first two years combined) and scored in double figures in 28 of the Bears' 31 games, including 7 games with over 20 points.
.
77. Anthony Johnson and G Julian Harrell of Eastern Washington takes turns driving to the basket against each other during action in the Big Sky Conference on Feb. 13 at Cheney, WA. Johnson scored a career high 37 points in the game (9-22 FG, 16-16 FT), but EWU jumped out to a 19-2 lead in the first 6 minutes and was never threatened thereafter in their 97-80 win. The 37 points were the most ever by a UNC player in the 12 years since they became a D-1 program.
.
78. Anthony Johnson finds an open path to the basket (left photo) against Portland State during a 1st round game of the Big Sky tournament on Mar. 8. Later Johnson has his layup blocked by F De'Sean Parsons (right photo) as he tries to bring the Bears within 3 with 10 seconds left in the game. Despite 17 points and 8 rebounds by Johnson, the Bears lost to Portland State 74-67 to end their season with a 10-21 record. Even though for the season he attempted more 3-pointers than 2-pointers, Anthony still shot a respectable 44.5% from the field. He averaged 15.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 29 minutes per game.
With UNC banning itself from the 2017 postseason (to pacify the NCAA, which is investigating violations in their program), the new coaching staff decided they didn't want to have Johnson's senior year to go to waste; so Anthony redshirted this season, and his dreads should be really long when hopefully he and the Bears can make a run at NCAA Tournament next season.
No comments:
Post a Comment