We saw the seniors with new dreads in DG167 and a few more seniors in DG169. Now in DG171 we'll take a long look at the remaining four Division 1 seniors with dreads, along with several shots of three juniors who didn't hang around for their senior seasons. All seven players featured played pro basketball during 2016-17, although only one of them was in the NBA.
.
.
.
4. Darnell Harris defends during MTSU's two games against Western Kentucky. On the left Harris bothers F Anton Waters on one of his two missed jump shots early in the 1st half on Jan. 30. After the Blue Raiders blew an 18-point halftime lead and trailed 59-56 with 3:33 to play, Harris scored their final 10 points of the game, including a tip in with 10 seconds left for a 65-64 lead. Darnell finished with a season high 22 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes in the 66-64 road win over WKU. In the right photo Harris blocks the shot of F Justin Johnson late in the 1st half on Feb. 25, as F Reggie Upshaw also defends. Thanks in part to Harris' 2 for 10 shooting night, MTSU lost their home meeting to WKU 78-72.
The loss was the Blue Raiders' 2nd straight at home and dropped them to 10-5 in CUSA and out of the race for 1st place. They ended up in 2nd place at 13-5, 3 games behind UAB. Of course, the NCAA Tournament selection committee does not hold CUSA in high regard, so winning the regular season crown doesn't mean a whole lot. The conference tournament is the thing.
.
5. After UAB lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, an unexpected trip to the NCAA Tournament was there for the taking for the four teams that advanced to the semifinals. On Mar. 11 (left photo) Darnell Harris puts up a shot against Marshall. He had 12 points (5-9 FG) as MTSU won 99-90 to advance to the championship game. In the right photo Harris drives toward the lane against ODU on Mar. 12. He finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds in 33 minutes. In a game where both teams shot less than 37%, MTSU scored the final 4 points of the game to edge ODU 55-53 and win the championship..
I was ticked off when the selection committee assigned MTSU the #15 seed in the Midwest Regional. With their record at 24-9, they should have been rated higher than that. I thought it was ridiculous they weren't rated ahead of some of the teams that were seeded 13th and 14th. Getting seeded 15th means your first game in the tournament is against one of the best teams in the country and means your first game is very likely to be your only game. But the Blue Raiders had other ideas.
.
7. Darnell Harris had several close encounters with 6-9 F Matt Costello of Michigan State in the 1st round game at St. Louis on Mar. 18. Here are two of them - or this might be two photos of the same play. I'm not sure. While Costello hit 9 of 10 shots from the field, Harris made only 5 of 13 - the only Blue Raider to shoot under 50% in the game.
.
The 13-point lead was the Blue Raiders' biggest of the game, and they led the entire game. The Spartans closed to with 1 with 8 minutes remaining in the game, but Harris scored on a 3-point play and a 3-point FG on back-to-back possessions to help hold them off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71gJ0n0QAeU
.
9. Darnell Harris defends as G Denzel Valentine takes one of his 13 shots (left photo) during the game (he shot 5 for 13, just like Harris) and has the common sense to stay away from Valentine on his 3-point attempt (right photo) with 7 seconds remaining and MTSU leading by 8.When the #15 seed plays as well as MTSU did, the selection committee has made a mistake. Too bad for Michigan State, they're the ones who paid for that mistake. In a game where both teams shot better than 55%, Middle Tennessee ruined Michigan State's dreams of a championship, defeating the Spartans 90-81 to advance to the 2nd round.
.
10. Darnell Harris drives against F Tyler Roberson (left photo) in the 2nd round game against Syracuse on Mar. 20 and puts up a shot (right photo) against C DaJuan Coleman. Harris led the team in scoring but only had 11 points and only shot 4 of 13 from the field.
.
11. Darnell Harris hits the deck but comes away empty on both of these occasions while battling for possession of the ball against Syracuse.
The Blue Raiders were in good shape with 16 minutes to play, trailing 40-39. But then the clock suddenly stuck midnight - seriously. On their next 12 possessions they shot 1 for 16 from the field and had 1 turnover, and the Orange pulled out to a 61-41 lead with 6:18 remaining. The final was 75-50, a bad ending to a really nice season. Harris ended up averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists and shot 41.1% from the field. He was second on the team with 58 3-point FG made.
If I had done a dread all-America team for 2015-16, Darnell would have been on it. I don't mind at all that he bands his dreads into a ponytail. When they're that long, you have to. And I can't remember a single time that he had them reduced. If everyone did their dreads like his, there wouldn't be anything to complain about.
.
12. In my 2015 First Look post I mentioned that Darnell Harris' high school coach thought Harris would one day play in the NBA. Well, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Harris played his 2016-17 season for Spirou Charleroi (both photos) in Belgium, averaging 4.8 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 16 minutes in 57 games. And he's hanging around for another season in Belgium, now playing for Liege.
.
13. Another player who would've been on my dread all-America team is Memphis F Shaq Goodwin - although his dreads were a mess on Dec. 12 (left photo), as he tries to go to the basket against Manhattan C AK Ojo. After having his dreads reduced for the first 7 games of the season, it looks like he wanted to turn them loose for this game but ran out of time before he could completely unbraid them. He had 13 points and 8 rebounds that night in Memphis' 89-57 home victory. A week later (right photo) Goodwin finally has the dreads flowing at full blast - and he kept them that way for the rest of the season - as he gets a close-up view of a dunk by F Sebastian Saiz that gives Mississippi a 66-52 lead with 8:37 remaining on Dec. 18. Shaq finished with 7 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots in an 85-79 home loss that ended the Tigers' 5-game winning streak.
.
Goodwin, a 6-9, 231-pounder, led the Tigers and was 2nd in the AAC with 61 blocked shots for the season (1.8 per game).
.
15.Shaq Goodwin inadvertently uses his dreads to block the vision of South Carolina G Marcus Stroman (left photo) on a drive to the basket on Jan. 2. After fouling out of the game with 4:03 remaining and Memphis down by 3, Goodwin eggs on the South Carolina crowd one last time (right photo). Shaq was on his worst behavior all night. After he nearly got into a fight in the first 2 minutes of the game, the fans were all over him - and he often gave it right back to them. He finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and a season high 5 turnovers in 25 minutes in the Tigers' 86-76 road loss, as the Gamecocks improved to 13-0. Goodwin had 5 of the Tigers' 41 fouls in the game.
Goodwin, as you may recall, was the winner of the AAC's 2015 Sportsmanship Award. But he officially disqualified himself from consideration for the 2016 award with a moment of stupidity in the 2nd half, when he sneakily tripped G Sindarius Thornwell after Thornwell nearly crashed into the Memphis bench while contesting a shot: https://memphis.247sports.com/Bolt/Shaq-Goodwin-will-be-disciplined-after-South-Carolina-incident-42539431
Really, Shaq, did you really think you were going to get away with that? His foolishness earned him a 1-game suspension.
.
.
.
18. Shaq Goodwin encounters an African center even taller than Amida Brimah during the Tigers' two games against UCF, as he goes up against 7-6 freshman Tacko Fall at Orlando on Jan. 26 (left photo) and at Memphis on Feb. 17. The Tigers won both meetings against the Knights. Goodwin had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the 73-56 home win .....
.
19. ..... And in the earlier 97-86 win on the road Shaq had arguably the best game of his career. Here nobody picks him up as he comes down the lane as the trailer on a fast break midway through the 1st half and, after taking the pass from F Trahson Burrell, he slams home 2 of his 24 1st half points, giving the Tigers a 21-20 lead. Goodwin finished with a career high 35 points (15-23 FG), 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals in 37 minutes.
Although this one was close .....
.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/02/memphis-shaq-goodwin-elbow-dunk-vince-carter-sweet-technical-aw
.
.
22. Shaq Goodwin and Connecticut F Daniel Hamilton fight fiercely for possession (left photo) during the championship game of the AAC tournament at Orlando on Mar. 13. In the right photo one of UConn cheerleaders is actually paying attention to the game and realizes that Goodwin is holding his head because he has just picked up his 4th foul with still 10:38 remaining in the game. Goodwin picked up his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fouls in a span of 4:09. The 2 FT the Huskies made after his 4th foul were the 4th and 5th points of a 10-0 run that increased their lead from 40-36 to 50-36. And from there the Tigers never seriously threatened to get back in the game. Shaq never fouled out, but scored just 2 points in the 2nd half and finished with only 6 points and 5 rebounds in 37 minutes in his final game in a Memphis uniform. Despite finishing in 7th place in the AAC at 8-10, the Tigers advanced to the final of the conference tournament. But their attempt to sneak into the NCAA Tournament failed, as they lost to Connecticut (for the third time) 72-58, finishing the season with a 19-15 record .....
.
Goodwin averaged career bests of 14.7 points and 7.5 rebounds as a senior, playing 29 minutes per game. It was a performance good enough for him to be named 1st team All-AAC.
A month after the season ended the Memphis student newspaper did an article where members of their sports staff gave their opinions of Goodwin's 4-year career with the Tigers: http://www.dailyhelmsman.com/sports/helmsman-roundtable-shaq-goodwin-s-legacy/article_8b6277c6-0802-11e6-8b0f-1fa207271053.html
.
24. Shaq Goodwin decided to start his pro career overseas instead of in the D-League, playing for two teams in 2016-17. He averaged 12.5 points (54.3 FG%) and 3.9 rebounds in 8 games for AEK Larnaca (left photo in Cyprus) from Aug. 9 to Nov. 30. After they were eliminated from the Europe Cup, he spent the rest of the season in Germany, playing for Science City Jena. In the right photo he reverse slams for 2 of his 20 points (8-10 FG) in a 76-68 road win over Walter Tigers Tubingen. Shaq averaged 8.9 PPG (52.0 FG%) and 4.9 RPG in 22 games for Jena, which finished in 14th place (out of 18 teams). For this season Goodwin has signed with a team in the top league in Greece..
From one of the best players in the AAC we go to one of the best in the ACC .....
25. ..... None of than Anthony "Cat" Barber, the 6-2, 190-pound star G who was a junior for North Carolina State in 2015-16. After improving from 8.5 PPG as a freshman to 12.1 PPG as a sophomore, Barber took a quantum leap in his junior season, nearly doubling the scoring average from his sophomore season. On Nov. 27 Barber goes in for a layup against Winthrop (left photo) in a game in which he set a new career high with 37 points. With N.C. State leading 73-71 with 5 minutes to play, he scored 12 of the team's last 14 points. He also had a season high 8 assists in the 87-79 win over Winthrop. On Dec. 19 (right photo) as F Shaun Kirk looks on from the bench, Barber drives to the basket against G Wes Clark during the 2nd half. Anthony had 33 points in this game, along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists as the Wolfpack defeated Missouri 73-59 to improve to 8-3. The Wolfpack were 10-3 at the end of December, but things got a lot tougher once conference play got underway.
.
.
.
.
29. The Wolfpack traveled to Pittsburgh for their next game on Jan. 19. The Panthers were 4-1 in the ACC, but they were no match for the Wolfpack on this night. The caption for the photo on the right says that the shot by Anthony Barber was in the 1st half. If so, then he must have made it because the game shot chart has him going 2 for 2 on jumpers from the left side in the 1st half. Barber scored 14 points in the 1st half as the Wolfpack sprinted out to a 28-point lead late in the half at 44-16. In the 2nd half Cat finishes a fast break with a layup past F Sheldon Jeter (left photo), making the score 60-42 with 9:49 remaining. The Panthers came back a bit in the 2nd half but never cut the lead to single digits. Barber finished with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists in the 78-61 victory.
.
30. Cat Barber drives in for a layup past F Devin Thomas of Wake Forest (left photo) on Feb. 13. Surpassing the 37 points he scored earlier in the season, Barber set a new career high again, finishing with 38 points (10-20 FG, 17-20 FT) in 40 minutes as the Wolfpack defeated Wake Forest 99-88. Opponents hoping to make a run while Cat was on the bench didn't get that chance very often in 2016, because he hardly ever was on the bench. In only 5 of N.C. State's 33 games did he play less than 37 minutes. And he played the entire 40 minutes in an incredible 16 games (including the overtime time he played 45 minutes). Fans hoping to see a game where Cat didn't stifle his dreads didn't get a chance at all. I mean, his dreads were barely long enough to need one band, and yet in almost every game he also had that aggravating, unnecessary second band near the bottom of his locks. Anthony changed up a bit for the last 5 games of the regular season, going with just one band but having his dreads reduced above that band, as you can see in the right photo from the home game against North Carolina on Feb. 24. Barber did much better against the Tar Heels in the rematch, scoring 32 points; but the Wolfpack lost anyway 80-68.
.
31. Back to the familiar two bands for the ACC tournament, Anthony Barber drives to the basket against Wake Forest (left photo) on Mar. 8 and draws a charging foul on G Bryant Crawford (right photo) for a key turnover with 3:28 remaining in the game and N.C. State up by 3.Finishing in 13th place in the ACC with a 5-13 record required the Wolfpack to win 5 games in a row to win the tournament. They got past the first one. In a game that neither team led by more than 7, and in which Cat had 22 points (despite shooting 7 for 21), 4 rebounds, and 6 assists, the Wolfpack kept their season alive for at least 24 more hours, defeating 14th place Wake Forest 75-72.
.
32. Cat Barber is focused only on the rim in front of him (left photo) as he drives against G Grayson Allen during the Wolfpack's game vs. Duke in the 2nd round of the ACC tournament on Mar. 9. After the game was over, after beating N.C. State in the tournament for the third year in a year, Coach K offers words of consolation and encouragement to Barber (right photo). Anthony finished with 29 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists, but the Wolfpack lost a tough one 92-89.
After losing to Duke the previous two years, the Wolfpack moved on to the NCAA Tournament; but this time, with their record at 16-17, the season was over. After leading the league (and finishing 7th in the nation) in scoring, Barber easily made 1st team All-ACC. He averaged 23.5 points (43.4 FG%), 4.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 38.7 minutes per game.
Sensing that Barber's time at N.C. State was going to be over soon, the Mark Gottfried Show did this short video feature on him just before the ACC tournament started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my14eFvtCWk
To the surprise of no one Cat declared for the NBA draft about two weeks after the season ended. It didn't seem possible at that time, but he ended up not getting drafted.
.
33. With his dreads getting longer but still confined by two bands, Cat Barber spent the entire 2016-17 season in the D-League. After spending the preseason with the Philadelphia 76ers but not making the team, Barber signed with the 76ers' affiliate in the D-League, the Delaware 87's, and was with them (left photo, from Jan. 6) until being traded to the Greensboro Swarm (right photo, Mar. 16) in early February. In all he played 40 games and averaged 16.4 PPG (14.2 in 21 games with Delaware, 18.8 in 19 games with Greensboro), 3.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.1 SPG in 34 minutes per game. For this season Cat has signed with New Basket Brindisi in the Italian League (he scored a game high 19 points in a season-opening loss three weekends ago), opting to play where you get paychecks with much larger numbers on them than in the low-paying D-League.
.
.
.
36. When you shoot 55.7% from the field for the season, as Adom Jacko did, it usually means that most of your shots are taken close to the basket. A lot of Jacko's shots were so close to the basket that they went downward through the rim. Indeed throughout the season Adom was pretty good at dunking the ball. This one on Dec. 2 was one of two he had on back-to-back possessions in the 1st half at Oregon State. Those two dunks increased LMU's lead to 14-10 and then 16-10. Jacko had 5 dunks in all and shot 11 for 17 from the field, finishing with 22 points. But the Lions, trailing 56-55 after a Jacko dunk with 7:08 to play, were outscored 23-15 from there and lost to the Beavers 79-70.
.
37. "Oh, no you don't; this rebound is mine!", Adom Jacko emphatically expresses to teammate Steven Haney (left photo) during the 1st half of the Lions' game at Gonzaga on Dec. 23. Late in the 2nd half (right photo) Jacko can't hit a layup against 7-1 C Ryan Edwards. Jacko had another double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds; but Gonzaga held a double-digit lead for the final 27 minutes of the game, easily defeating LMU 85-62.
.
38. Adom Jacko dunks past BYU F Nate Austin (left photo) during the 1st half at Los Angeles on Jan. 21. Jacko had the last of his 5 double-doubles, hitting 11 of 12 shots from the field and finishing with 26 points and 12 rebounds. LMU had a 15-point lead late in the 1st half, but it was long gone by the end of the game, as BYU stormed back to win 91-80. In the rematch exactly one week later at Provo Jacko slams home an alley-oop pass against F Jakob Hartsock (right photo) to end a 10-0 BYU run and bring LMU to within 20-17 with 7:50 remaining in the 1st half. Adom finished with 20 points, shooting 9 for 16 from the field; but his teammates shot an awful 12 for 48 as BYU won easily 87-62.
.
39. A foul by Portland F Gabe Taylor does not stop Adom Jacko at all on this drive to the basket, as he slams home two during the 1st half on Feb. 6. Adom made the FT to give LMU a 19-18 lead. Jacko scored a season high 35 points, including 22 in the 2nd half, but once again it was not enough as the Lions dropped to 3-10 in the WCC and 10-14 overall with the 92-78 home loss to Portland.
.
The injury was to Jacko's back, and it was serious enough that he missed the Lions' final 6 games of the season. Adom was named 2nd team All-WCC and might have made the 1st team had he not been injured. I mean, he was on a roll, averaging 24.5 PPG in the last 6 games before he was injured. He ended up leading the Lions in scoring (16.6 PPG) and rebounding (6.4 RPG). The Lions finished with a 14-17 record. Two months after the end of the season, Adom decided he would get his pro career started sooner rather than later, announcing he would not be returning to LMU for his senior season: http://www.lmulions.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/051616aaa.html
.
41. In his first pro season Adom Jacko played for Bnei Herzelia, a team in Israel's top league; and it's good to see that after traveling all that way he didn't forget how to dunk. Jacko slams home 2 of his 7 points (left photo) in a 91-67 home win over Prievidza in a Euro Cup game on Oct. 26. Jacko finds himself double teamed (right photo) in an 88-77 home win over Tsmoki-Minsk on Jan. 11. Jacko played in only 30 games for Bnei Herzelia, averaging 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds and shooting 49.2% in just 12 minutes per game. From February until the end of the season in May he hardly played at all; so he might have been injured again. Adom has signed on for another season in Israel, but in 2017-18 he'll be facing lesser competition while playing for Elitzur Yavne, a second division team. .
42. At 23.6 PPG, Mississippi senior G Stefan Moody just edged out Cat Barber as the leading scorer among players with dreads in 2015-16. If you attended any of his games, you probably noticed that Moody was a threat to shoot to the ball as soon as he crossed half court. Only 10 players in Division 1 attempted more than the 272 3-point shots he did, and only 17 made more than the 103 he made. Moody takes a jumper over G Ta'Jon Welcome (left photo) in the season opener on Nov. 13. Stefan started the season by tying his career high with 29 points and added 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a 90-76 home win over Northwestern State. 6-11, 335-pound C Rashaan Holloway of Massachusetts tries to bother Moody (right photo) on a long jumper during the 1st half on Dec. 5. After setting a new career high with 30 points on Nov. 20, Stefan scored 30 again as the Rebels improved to 6-2 with a 74-64 victory over UMass in a game played at Springfield, MA.
.
43. Stefan Moody is listed at 5-10 and 179 pounds; but when you have a vertical jump of 46 inches, as Stefan does (allegedly), dunking is never a problem. Moody dunks and celebrates after giving Ole Miss a 93-68 lead over Louisiana Tech with 3:08 remaining on Dec. 15. He finished with 29 points and 4 assists in 31 minutes in the 99-80 home win.
.
44. When Stefan Moody's not scoring on 3-pointers, he's scoring on drives to the basket, here (left photo) going against F Aaron Ariri of Troy on Dec. 22. In the final game at Tad Smith Colesium - the Rebels' home since 1966 - Moody finished with 23 points, 7 assists, and a career high 6 steals as the Rebels barely beat Troy 83-80 in overtime. On Jan. 7 (right photo) Moody shows off his hops, outjumping 6-9 teammate Sebastian Saiz for possession of the ball. Stefan had 21 points, 2 assists, and 6 turnovers (oops) as the Rebels opened their new home with a 74-66 win over Alabama.
.
45. As Stefan Moody battles Kentucky G Tyler Ulis for a loose ball during the 2nd half on Jan. 2, you get a good look at his red dread tips. Moody was held to just 9 FG attempts in this game but still managed to score 23 points (6-9 FG, 9-9 FT) in the 83-61 road loss that snapped the Rebels' 7-game winning streak.
Stefan banded his dreads into a ponytail like this for almost every game during the season. There were couple games where he went with reduced dreads, but they were too hideous to post any photos of them here.
.
46. With top NBA prospect Ben Simmons in uniform for LSU on Jan. 13, Stefan Moody put on an even more spectacular performance than usual, making sure all the scouts would notice him too. In 1st half action Moody drives past F Craig Victor (left photo) and can't increase the Rebels' 6-point lead as he misses a 3-pointer against G Josh Gray (right photo) with 1:40 remaining until halftime. Stefan finished with a career high 33 points and added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and even had 1 blocked shot (one of three he had all season) in 38 minutes. But LSU shot 71% from the field in the 2nd half and outscored the Rebels 12-5 in the final 2:31 of the game to win 90-81 - a defeat that started the Rebels' on a 4-game losing streak.
Here are Moody's highlights from the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxDumVzRxwQ
.
47. Stefan Moody goes up to shoot against guards Chris Chiozza (left photo) and Kasey Hill (right photo) of Florida on Jan. 16. Moody finished with 22 points - his 12th straight game with at least 21 points - but the Rebels lost at home to the Gators 80-71. That streak would extend to 14 games before he was held to 10 points in a nonconference loss at Kansas State on Jan. 30.One thing you couldn't help but notice during Stefan's two seasons with Mississippi were those shorts. He was a throwback to the late 1990's, where it seemed like all basketball players were in a competition to see who could have their shorts hang the farthest below their knees. I wonder what he thinks about today's craze, where the length of basketball shorts seems to be shrinking each season now.
.
48. After a two week fling with reduced dreads, Stefan Moody has his dreads back to normal for the home game against Vanderbilt on Feb. 6, as he loses a battle for a rebound to C Damian Jones (right photo) and drives to the basket past Jones and friends (left photo). Moody had his worst shooting night of the season, missing 20 shots (twenty!); but he still managed to score 23 points (5-25 FG, 10-10 FT) as the Rebels improved to 5-5 in the SEC and 15-8 overall with an 85-78 win over the Commodores.
.
49. With his jumper still not working a week later, Stefan Moody makes sure he gets this one in the basket, nearly getting his dreads caught in the net after slamming home an alley-oop pass from G Martavious Newby for the Rebels' final points of the game on Feb. 13, much to the delight of G Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey. According to the game shot chart, Moody made only 1 of his 11 jump shots in the game, including 0 for 7 from 3-point range - his only game without a three all season. He scored 17 points, his season low for a home game; but his teammates picked him up, and the Rebels won easily over Arkansas 76-60..
.
51. Stefan Moody is accompanied by his mother (photo above) as he is introduced during the senior night festivities before the game against Mississippi State on Mar. 2; and they're joined by his dad, his brother and Coach Kennedy as they get their picture taken (photo on right). Moody reflects on his career at Ole Miss in this video posted the day of this game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rVx2GAHGsg
By the way Stefan mentioned briefly that his brother, Isaiah, plays basketball too; but unfortunately he isn't quite the player Stefan is. Isaiah, who was a high school senior in 2015-16 (and whose dreads are probably as long as Stefan's were when Stefan was a HS senior), played his freshman college season in 2016-17 for a Division 3 junior college.
Once the pregame ceremony was over, Stefan got down to business .....
.
52. It's tough to do a proper chest bump when you're 5-10 and F Marcanvis Hymon is 6-7, but Stefan Moody does his best (left photo) while celebrating after his 4th 3-point FG of the 1st half causes Mississippi State to take a timeout. At that point Stefan had already scored 24 points, and there was still 5:30 to go until halftime. Moody drives to the basket past G Malik Newman (right photo) in the 2nd half. Stefan gave Ole Miss fans one last memorable performance in his final home game, finishing with a career high 43 points (11-24 FG, 15-18 FT) - he also tied his career high with 8 turnovers, but we won't mention that - in an 86-78 victory over Mississippi State.
.
53. Stefan Moody is about to have his layup rejected by 6-5 G Brandon Austin with 12:45 remaining in the 1st half of a 2nd round game in the SEC tournament on Mar. 10, keeping the Rebels' lead over Alabama at 16-14. Realizing there might be no tomorrow, Moody launched a career high 27 shots in the game - and made a career high 12, including 8 for 17 from 3-point range.
As for Austin, if you're wondering why I haven't mentioned him before, it's because his hair is in braids, not dreads, as you can pretty clearly see in the left photo.
.
54. Stefan Moody can't stop G Retin Obasohan from hitting a layup in the 2nd half on Mar. 10. Obasohan was a thorn in the Rebels' side, scoring all 17 of his points in the 2nd half. Moody scored 22 points in the 2nd half, but it wasn't enough. On his way to the bench after fouling out with 30 seconds remaining and the Rebels down by 7, Moody detours over to the Alabama bench for a handshake with Coach Johnson (right photo). Despite Stefan's 39 points and 8 rebounds, the 7th seeded Rebels lost to #10 seed Alabama 81-73. More details of Moody's final game in this column from the Oxford Eagle: http://www.oxfordeagle.com/2016/03/11/column-helpless-night-doesnt-dampen-moodys-prowess/
Their 20-12 record wasn't good enough to get the Rebels into the NCAA Tournament - or the NIT either, for that matter. None of their wins were against any teams that were really good, so the season ended with the loss to Alabama. After averaging 16.6 PPG and shooting 39% as a junior, Moody improved to 23.6 PPG and 40.9% as he was named 1st team All-SEC for the second straight year. He also averaged 3.2 rebounds and a team-leading 4.3 assists.
Coach Johnson in the photo above is, of course, Avery Johnson, who played in the NBA for 16 years despite being just as short as Moody. But he was a pass-first point guard, something that Stefan definitely isn't. You have to be a really great player to make an NBA roster, or at least have a talent that you're great at. For whatever the reasons none of the NBA teams thought Moody, despite his shooting ability, would be able to help them. He wasn't drafted (and wasn't even invited to the NBA Combine before the draft).
.
55. In his first pro season Stefan Moody played for Trabzonspor Medical Park, a team in Turkey, in 2016-17, here dribbling the ball during a preseason game on Sept. 16 (left photo) and going to the basket against F Davon Jefferson (who didn't have dreads when he played for USC way back in 2008) on Apr. 8. It must have been killing him, but Stefan made it through the season taking only 7 shots per game. He started about half the games, averaging 8.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in 23 minutes per game. Trabzonspor went 10-20 and finished in 11th place (out of 16 teams).
For this season Stefan is wearing the uniform of the Rethymno Cretan Kings, the only franchise in the Greek A1 League on the island of Crete, where one of his teammates is, of all people, Shaq Goodwin.
If I had done a 2015-16 All-America with dreads team, Stefan Moody would have made 1st team .....
.
Rather than get posterized right in front of his own fan club, Taurean fouls Savannah State F Lenjo Kilo to prevent the dunk with 7:28 remaining in the game. Kilo made 1 of 2 FT to cut Baylor's lead to 34 points at 84-50. Prince shot a bit better (6 for 13) and finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and a career high 9 assists as the Bears rolled over Savannah State 100-61.
.
.
As you may recall, it was early during Prince's sophomore season that Taurean added his mother's maiden name, "Waller", to his jersey; and he kept it that way for the rest of his career, even though everybody refers to him as just "Prince" and not "Waller-Prince".
.
.
60. After grabbing a defensive rebound, Taurean Prince takes it coast to coast, finishing with a layup at the other end (left photo) to up Baylor's lead to 18-2 over New Mexico State on Dec. 23 at Waco. 4 minutes later Prince closes his eyes as he slams home an alley oop pass from G Lester Medford (right photo) and almost hits himself in the face with the ball. That made the score 27-9. Taurean hit 8 of 11 shots from the field and scored 21 points in the 1st half; and he finished with a career high 34 points in the Bears' 85-70 home win over the Aggies.
.
61. As was mentioned in DG168, Johnathan Motley was the star of the game on Jan. 9; but Taurean Prince had a double-double too. Prince grabs one of his 10 rebounds in front of Iowa State F Jameel McKay (left photo). Taurean is all smiles as he walks off after the game, after scoring 18 points and in the process surpassing the 1,000 mark in career points. After losing to Iowa State on their first 12 trips to Hilton Colesium, the Bears won there for the 2nd year in a row, rallying from a 12-point deficit in the 2nd half to knock off the #13 ranked Cyclones 94-89.
.
62. A pair of Princes have a couple of close encounters during the 1st half of Baylor's game at Texas on Feb. 20. Taurean Prince gets one of his season high 4 steals (left photo), double teaming C Prince Ibeh in the low post and taking the ball from him with 17:00 remaining. Then with 9:23 remaining Prince gets fouled by Ibeh (right photo) while trying to grab a defensive rebound. Taurean finished with 17 points as the Bears improved to 20-7 with a 78-64 victory, with the 14-point margin of victory being their first double-digit road win over the Longhorns in 33 years.
.
63. Baylor faced Texas again in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament at Kansas City on Mar. 10, and the Longhorns were in the white jerseys because they finished 4th in the conference at 11-7, while the Bears (10-8) were 5th. Shortly after getting an offensive rebound during the 1st half, F Tevin Mack finds himself pinned against the baseline and under heavy pressure from Taurean Prince (left photo). Without fouling, Prince ends up deflecting and stealing Mack's attempted pass, and 20 seconds later Prince scores a 3-point play at the other end to increase Baylor's lead to 19-9. Midway through the 2nd half (right photo) Prince drives to the basket trying to increase Baylor's 59-44 lead but is called for an offensive foul as Prince Ibeh takes the charge. Taurean led the Bears in points, rebounds, and assists - 24, 13, and 4 - getting his 6th (and last) double-double of the season as the Bears beat the Longhorns by 14 points again, 75-61.
.
64. Taurean Prince tries to stop Kansas G Frank Mason on a fast break drive to the basket (left photo) early in the 1st half of a Big 12 tournament senifinal game on Mar. 11. Mason got past Prince, but another defender forced him to pass the ball. Early in the 2nd half (right photo) Prince reaches from behind and gets a hand on the ball but can't knock it away from F Perry Ellis, who goes in and hits a layup to give the Jayhawks, who trailed 23-21 at the half, a 31-25 lead, forcing Baylor to take a timeout. Prince had a career high 3 blocked shots in the game but scored only 9 points, ending his 15-game streak of scoring in double figures. Kansas continued to be the Bears' nemesis, defeating them for the third time during this season, 70-66, and improving to 27-4 against the Bears all time.
.
.
66. In the final minute of the 1st half Taurean Prince finishes a fast break with a dunk and ends up with his feet touching the backboard. Taurean protested to the officials after they hit him with a technical foul, claiming you're allowed to hang on the rim when you get in midair; but evidently they didn't see the subtle little shove that Victor gave him while he was going up. Yale hit the FT after the technical for a 37-34 lead and led 39-34 at the half.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yY3gykddsQ
After the Bears came back to tie the score at 45, the Bulldogs went on 19-6 run to build a 64-51 lead with 7 minutes to play.
.
68. Taurean Prince has a look of dismay and disbelief after being called for a crucial offensive foul with 44 seconds to play and Baylor trailing by only 4 points. Taurean a little later hit a 3-pointer with :14 on the clock to cut Yale's lead to 1; but the Bears, with a chance to tie or win on their next possession, turned the ball over again with 2 seconds left and ended up losing. Yale, which hadn't played an NCAA Tournament game in 54 years and had never won one, ended the Bears' season with a 79-75 victory. Prince scored 28 points in his final game in a Baylor uniform, most of which you can see in this highlight video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV-FVBDXmmE&t=75s
After suffering an embarrassing loss to Georgia State in the 1st round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, 2016 was supposed to be the year the Bears redeemed themselves; but instead it was more of the same - another humiliating defeat. Prince was so distraught when the game ended that he left the court immediately, not hanging around for the postgame handshakes. And his mood hadn't changed at all at the media session a few minutes later, giving this snide and sarcastic answer to a question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rw9yqmb5_M
After averaging just 3.7 and 6.2 points per game in his first two seasons with Baylor, Taurean improved so much in his last two that he was named 1st team All-Big 12 as a senior, after averaging 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 30 minutes per game.
.
69. After the disappointing finish to the season, things got a lot better for Taurean Prince three months later, when he was picked in the 1st round of the NBA Draft. The Utah Jazz selected him with the 12th overall pick and immediately traded him to the Atlanta Hawks. Taurean didn't play much during the first three months of his 2016-17 rookie season and even got sent to the D-League twice to keep from getting rusty (he averaged 20.6 points in 5 games for Long Island); but from mid-February on he became a key player, improving so much that he played at least 28 minutes in every game of the 1st round playoff series the Hawks lost to the Wizards in 6 games. Prince drives against F Otto Porter (left photo) in Game 1 of that series on Apr. 16 and defends a drive by F Paul George of the Pacers (right photo) in the final game of the regular season on Apr. 12. For the season he played 59 games, starting 10, and averaging 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 39.9% from the field in 16 minutes per game. In the playoffs those numbers went up to 11.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 55.8%. With the way he finished the season there's a lot of hope and optimism that he could turn into a really good player and have a long career.
Until a couple of days ago I never had heard of all the adversity Prince went through while he was in middle school. I mean, I can only imagine being homeless, and it's something that's just got to be one of the worst things that can happen. If interested, you should take the time to read an article from the San Antonio Express-News rfrom a couple of weeks ago, describing how he handled the adversity then and how the sky is the limit for him now. I can't provide a link to the article because it will say you need to buy a subscription. But if you go to Google and search for "express news a prince's perseverance" and click on the first link, you should be able to read the entire article.
.
70. Before the 2015-16 season began, if you asked who was the best player with dreads in the Big 12, the answer would have been a toss-up between Taurean Prince and Jameel McKay. But McKay, a 6-9, 225-pound F, took himself out of the running with a turbulent, drama-filled senior season for Iowa State that ended up having a happy ending - kind of.
The season cetainly got off to a good start. In the home opener on Nov. 16 (left photo) Chicago State C Quron Davis keeps McKay from dunking but can't keep him from scoring after getting an offensive rebound with 16:28 remaining in the 1st half. Jameel missed the FT (of course) following the foul on Davis, and Iowa State led 12-7. This was one of the few times in the game Chicago State kept McKay from dunking. He finished the game with 9 dunks and shot 12 of 15 from the field, recording his 1st double-double of the season with a career high 25 points and 11 rebounds in the Cyclones' easy 106-64 victory. On Dec. 7 (right photo) Buffalo F Rodell Wigginton can't prevent McKay from slamming home the first 2 points of the game with 19:01 remaining in the 1st half. It was just the start of a very good week for Jameel. After finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the 84-63 home win over Bufalo, he totaled 38 points and 20 rebounds in the next two games and was named co-Big 12 player of the week: http://www.cyclones.com/news/2015/12/14/210584901.aspx?path=mbball
.
.
72. F Terry Maston of Baylor shoots and misses a jump hook over Jameel McKay (left photo) midway through the 2nd half at Ames on Jan. 9, keeping Iowa State's lead at 62-58. Maston, by the way, looks like he's going to have dreads for his senior season starting about four weeks from now.
In photo #61 we saw a smiling Taurean Prince leave the court after the game. McKay, on the other hand, can only cover his face (right photo) as he makes his exit alongside F Abdel Nader, after Baylor scored 60 points in the 2nd half. Jameel finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and a career high 4 assists; but the Cyclones had their 9-game home winning streak come to an end, losing at home for the first time since ..... the last time they played Baylor at home. In February 2015 Baylor won 79-70. This time the final was 94-89.
.
73. According to his bio on the Iowa State website, Jameel McKay averaged almost exactly two dunks per game during his two seasons with the Cyclones; so he definitely was above average in the game at Texas on Jan. 12. While saving photos of the game, I thought these two photos were different shots of the same dunk - and they very well may be. But maybe they're not. After checking the game play-by-play and watching highlights of the game, I found out that McKay had 4 uncontested dunks from the right side of the basket like this during an 11-minute span in the 1st half. And I'm not even going to try to guess which one (or two) this (or these) is (or are). All 6 of Jameel's FGs in the game were dunks. He finished with 12 points and only 3 rebounds in 34 minutes as the Cyclones lost to the Longhorns 94-91 in overtime to drop to 1-3 in the Big 12.
.
The Cyclones won their next 4 games, but then the trouble started after back-to-back losses to Texas A&M and West Virginia on Jan. 30 and Feb. 2. I tuned in to watch the Feb. 6 game at Oklahoma State only to find out McKay had been suspended - for the always popular reason given, "violation of team rules". Noboby ever tells you what really happened. Teams try to keep their problems in house. But from reading as much as I could about it, what I think happened is that McKay either angrily stormed out of a practice or was guilty of some other kind of insubordination at practice (or both). It should be mentioned that there was a coaching change five months before the season started, with Coach Prohm inheriting a roster full of players recruited by Coach Hoiberg who were disappointed when Hoiberg suddenly left to coach in the NBA. But by the time you get to February, you should be fully adjusted to the new coaching staff by then. I found it tremendously disappointing that McKay, a redshirt senior, decided to burden his teammates with what really was nothing more than his selfishness and immaturity. Jameel sat for 2 games .....
74. ..... before returning to the court - but not the starting lineup - for the home game against Texas on Feb. 13. He tries to score in the lane against F Connor Lammert (photo above) but shoots an air ball (his only miss of the game), keeping Iowa State's lead at 21-17 with 8:46 remaining in the 1st half. With the Cyclones leading 52-47 in the 2nd half, he comes over to reject G Demarcus Holland's first (and only) shot of the game (photo on right). After entering the game - and to a polite round of applause, at that - with 12:53 remaining in the 1st half, McKay played 22 productive minutes, finishing with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots in the 85-75 win over Texas.
And all seemed well ..... but after Jameel went scoreless and fouled out in just 20 minutes at Baylor three nights later, he was benched again (in effect suspended) for the entire game vs. TCU on Feb. 20. Apparently the light bulb finally came on for Jameel after that, because he played really well from then on.
.
75. Jameel McKay has a couple of close encounters with G Frank Mason during the Cyclones' two games against Kansas, defending a drive to the basket by Mason on Jan. 25 at Ames (left photo) and forcing the driving Mason to pass the ball back out (right photo) late in the 1st half at Lawrence on Mar. 5. After taking two out of three from Kansas in 2015, the Cyclones split their two meetings with the Jayhawks in 2016. With McKay contributing 6 points and 5 rebounds in 27 minutes, Iowa State came back from a 9-point deficit in the 2nd half to whip #4 ranked Kansas 85-72 at home. And with the Jayhawks ranked #1 in their second meeting, the Cyclones nearly spoiled their senior day. Jameel had one of his best games, finishing with 19 points (7-9 FG) and 9 rebounds in 36 minutes; but after Iowa State led by 3 with 5 minutes to play, Kansas finished the game on a 17-7 run and won 85-78.
You may remember that during McKay's junior season his dreads made a spectacular showing, as he was on the court with them barely restrained at all. But they grew too long for him to keep them like that again during his senior season, so he played most of the games with them looking like this, bunched together into a ponytail.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2MCmPgd5Y
.
77. After finishing tied for 5th with Baylor in the Big 12, Iowa State was seeded 6th for the conference tournament and faced #3 seed Oklahoma on Mar. 10. Jameel McKay finished with 9 rebounds in the game, but it's doubtful that he got either of these two. I'm assuming this close encounter between McKay and F Ryan Spangler near the 3-point line (left photo) in the 2nd half is for a rebound because in another shot of this play the shot clock has reset to 30 seconds. In the 1st half (right photo) Jameel takes an elbow in the chops from F Khadeem Lattin as they battle for a rebound. After winning the tournament the previous year, the Cyclones bowed out in the quarterfinals this time. OU took the lead for good at 27-24 late in the 1st half, built it to 14 points midway through the 2nd half, and held on for a 79-76 victory.
.
78. The same as with Baylor and Taurean Prince, Iowa State entered the NCAA Tournament carrying the baggage of a crushing, 1st round defeat (to UAB) and early exit from the tournament in 2015. But unlike Baylor against Yale, the Cyclones took care of business in their 1st round game against Iona. After falling behind 5-0, the Cyclones went on a 16-2 run, including this gentle slam dunk by Jameel McKay of an alley-oop pass from F Georges Niang to make the score 13-7. Iowa State led 45-33 at halftime.
.
79. Jameel McKay had several close encounters with an old friend of his, F Jordan Washington, during the game. McKay fouls Washington (left photo) while trying to keep him from shooting and tries to dribble around him (right photo) during the 1st half. Washington fouled McKay three times during the game, while all four of McKay's fouls were committed on Washington. And those don't include the double technical fouls they got early in the 2nd half. Unaware that McKay and Washington had been roommates while serving as assistants at summer basketball camps held at Indian Hills junior college - the school where McKay had All-America seasons in 2012 and 2013 and where Washington played in 2014 and 2015 - the officials mistook their friendly trash talking as genuine animosity and hit them both with technicals after Washington scored and was fouled by McKay with 17:17 remaining. Washington won the battle on the stats sheet, finishing with 26 points and 12 rebounds; but McKay got the W. Jameel had 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots (all three on attempts by Washington, of course) as the Cyclones advanced with a 94-81 win over Iona. .
.
81. In the 2nd round on Mar. 19 Iowa State's opponent was #12 seed Arkansas-Little Rock, not #5 Purdue as expected. Jameel McKay and F Mareik Isom hit the deck while battling for a loose ball (left photo). McKay doesn't let a shove in the back from F Maurius Hill (on left in right photo) prevent him from slamming home an alley-oop pass from Georges Niang to up the Cyclones' lead to 26-21 with 5:40 remaining in the 1st half. As he often did, Jameel missed the ensuing FT.
After Little Rock hit a 3-pointer on their first possession of the game, the Cyclones went on a 7-0 run and never trailed again, leading by 10 points or more for the final 17 minutes of the game.
.
82. With the victory in the bag and realizing they're on their way to the Sweet 16, Jameel McKay and teammates enjoy themselves on the bench during the closing seconds of the game. It sure was far away from a year earlier, when the 1st round loss to UAB had McKay in tears. With McKay contributing 6 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes, there were no tears this time as Iowa State had an easy one in round 2, defeating UALR 78-61.
A couple of days before the regional semifinal game against Virginia, the Des Moines Register ran a long article on McKay, focusing mostly on how Jameel got out of his late-season funk. If you're as big a fan of Jameel as I am, you've probably already read it. If you haven't, here it is: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/randy-peterson/2016/03/22/peterson-looking-inside-cyclones-misunderstood-jameel-mckay/82085720/
.
83. Wearing his road uniform because the 4th seeded Cyclones are facing #1 seed Virginia, Jameel McKay has to decide whether to try to pass the ball to a teammate or throw it off of C Mike Tobey (left photo) during the 1st half on Mar. 25. Not exactly known as an offensive juggernaut, Virginia shot 60.7% from the field in the 1st half (their best shooting 1st half all season), jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the first 5:12 of the game and never trailed. McKay changed shoes at halftime hoping to change the Cyclones' fortunes, and they did start the 2nd half on a 13-7 run to pull within 51-44; but they got no closer. Jameel slams home the last of his 118 career dunks (right photo), a meaningless two that makes the score 80-69 with 1:01 to play.
.
84. Near the end of the game it's not hard to tell by looking at Jameel McKay (left photo) that things haven't gone the way he had hoped. In the locker room after the season-ending 84-71 defeat (right photo) Jameel tries to explain to the media why he was no factor in his final game in an Iowa State uniform. He had only 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 0 blocked shots in 26 minutes in the loss. The Cyclones entered the game holding opponents to 43.5% shooting but allowed Virginia to shoot 56.1%, including 22 for 31 by their three tallest players - Tobey, Anthony Gill, and Isaiah Wilkins.
Despite all the distraction he caused with his behavior, McKay still made honorable mention All-Big 12. He started in 28 of the 32 games he played, averaging 11.1 PPG and leading the Cyclones in rebounding (8.8 RPG) and blocked shots (1.7 BPG) - numbers similar to his junior season . He shot better from the field (60.5%, second best in the Big 12) than the FT line (53.5%). And although overall I thought his team underachieved a bit (finishing 23-12), at least once the Cyclones got to the NCAA Tournament, they went as far as they were expected to.
.
85. After not being selected in the NBA Draft and playing 3 games for the Pelicans in the NBA Summer League, Jameel McKay decided he better go overseas to get his pro career started, going across the Pacific, not Atlantic, Ocean - all the way to the west coast of Australia, where he played the 2016-17 for the Perth Wildcats. During the first couple of months of the season he had his dreads dyed brown (left photo from Oct. 14) before going back to black (right photo, from Mar. 1). In 33 games (30 starts) he averaged 7.8 PPG and 6.3 RPG in 22 minutes per game and was 2nd in the league in blocked shots with 1.4 per game. Here are some of his highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44X4Yo-Lvec
.
86. Oh, I almost forgot, Perth took the championship, their 2nd straight. After barely making the playoffs (needing a win on the last day of the season to get in) the Wildcats won 5 games in a row, sweeping their semifinal series 2-0 and the final series 3-0, with all of the wins by at least 8 points. Jameel takes his turn cutting down the net (photo above) after the title-clinching 95-86 victory over Illawara on Mar. 5 and celebrates with the team's top two scorers, Casey Prather (#23) and Bryce Cotton (#0) (photo on right). I guess that since there's so much roster turnover, you don't wait until the next season to get your ring - they give them out right then and there after the game.
The West Australian newspaper website had this article in which McKay expresses how pleased he is to finally win a championship: https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/it-makes-everything-worth-it---jameel-mckay-reflects-on-a-championship-season-ng-b88406819z
.
87. A couple of weeks later Jameel McKay was in the Philippines, where the dyed dreads made a reappearance while he wore the uniform of Phoenix Fuel Masters, playing in the Commissioner's Cup tournament from Mar. 22 until June 6. He dominated against lesser competition, but his team did not. In 11 games he averaged 23.8 points and 17.3 rebounds in 42 minutes per game (including one game in which he had 42 points and 22 rebounds); but after going 4-7 in the round robin, Phoenix Fuel was eliminated after their first game of the playoff round.
.
As for this season ..... well, I hate to finish things on a sad note, but .....
No comments:
Post a Comment