The Tier 3-4 player profile report shines its light on New England. The region is highlighted by Boston College for college hoops, but there are plenty of excellent players along the Atlantic seaboard including the following trio. In these three players, we have a wing, a point guard, and a power player to meet all of your needs.
John Holland, guard/forward, Boston University Terriers
Holland, a 6-foot-5 swingman, is a fairly well known entity in fantasy college hoops circles. He has averaged better than 18 points over the past two years and is the consensus best player in the American East Conference. As a junior, he provided 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.0 three-pointers, and 1.6 steals. He scored in double-digits in all but three games. Unfortunately, one of those three was the season-ending loss to Vermont in the conference tournament. Holland hit a career-high 43 points on Feb. 20 against Delaware and it was the most points by a Terrier in almost 25 years. Unlike the last three years, Holland will not have point guard Corey Lowe passing him the ball, but that may lead to more assist opportunities for Holland.
Derek Needham, guard, Fairfield Stags
Productive freshmen found in Tiers 3 and 4 are worth much more than their Tier 1 brethren. If you can find a player who puts up numbers for a smaller school in his first year and can get multiple years of production from him, you are several steps ahead of the competition. Needham had a fantastic freshman year for the Stags and looks to have a very promising career. He provided 16.2 points and 5.2 assists to help Fairfield to a 22-10 record. His shooting could improve and he only hit 38.2% of his shots from the field and 30.2% of his threes. Needham also turned the ball over 3.8 times per game, but that is almost to be expected from a freshman point guard playing 36.5 minutes. If you've got him, be glad for your long term future.
Justin Rutty, forward, Quinnipiac Bobcats
If we were assembling a three-on-three team from small schools in the northeast, we'd now need a bruiser to patrol the paint, corral boards, and accept alleyoop passes. Enter Rutty, a 6-foot-7, 255 lb senior from Quinnipiac. During nonconference play, Rutty had some ups and downs. He had a monster game against Rhode Island (30 points, 15 rebounds in a loss), but also hit a three-game stretch in mid-January in which he provided neither double-digit points nor rebounds. On Jan. 24, things seem to click into place and Rutty finished the season with 12 double-doubles in 14 games. His final averages were 15.3 points on 54.2% shooting and 10.9 rebounds. Guard James Feldeine and his 16.5 scoring average have departed, so Rutty will need to bring his best game every night.