Over the next few weeks, our writers will begin a journey through some of the lesser known conferences in collegiate hoops. It's a journey not for the faint at heart, but if you are passionate about hoops across the nation, the coming articles will be pure joy. We don't have Harrison Barnes' decent 16 points and seven rebounds, but rather "no name" folks who post some of the best all around numbers in the nation. And who knows, maybe one of them is the next Bryce Drew, or Steph Curry.
Up first are the Southern Conference and the Patriot League. In the SoCon, we are looking at a conference in rebuilding mode. Gone are the top four scorers from a season ago, which includes College of Charleston's Andrew Goudelock, whose 23.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists will be awfully hard to replace. But there are some teams here with a history of success in March (Davidson, CofC, Wofford, Furman, to name a few) so let's see what talent they'll send out this season.
Omar Carter, F, Appalachian State - Carter seems to have the most room for growth in his stats this year. The undersized, 6-foot-5 forward is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, both which were second on the team. The Mountaineers lost leading scorer Donald Sims' 21 ppg, and it's now Carter's turn to shine. Carter spent his first two seasons at Charleston Southern, where he averaged 7.2 boards. He had three double-doubles last season, and I'd be shocked if he didn't at least double that total in his final year. He's also the conference's leading returning scorer.
Amu Saaka, F, Furman - Saaka's size and statistical success is eerily similar to the aformentioned Omar Carter. He goes 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, and is a remarkably consistent rebounder considering his frame. This is really as simple as the numbers. Saaka is the conference's second leading returning scorer and its leading returning rebounder. He's averaged 15.8 and 15.6 points, and 7.2 and 6.6 rebounds in two seasons since transferring from South Florida. He's a model of consistency, and that goes a long way in fantasy sports.
Ben Drayton III, G, Georgia Southern - Drayton is going to offer you a little more well-rounded game, and he's coming off a solid bounce back season a year ago. Drayton put up 15.8 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds. Not bad numbers by any stretch, but then consider he more than doubled his assist output from 2009-2010, and raised his scoring by over six points. He also chipped in almost two steals per game.
Mike Groselle, C, Citadel - Ding, ding, ding! We have a center! Probably one of the best features of conferences in Tiers 2-4 is that teams are somewhat more liberal in their position declarations, and the 6-foot-8, 230-pound Groselle is an obvious benefactor. His numbers don't jump off the page, but 11.5 points and 6.4 boards will play for many fantasy teams in the middle.
Isaac Butts, C, Appalachian State - It's easy to forget about Butts, as he missed last season while recovering from a knee injury. What's not easy to do is to miss this guy getting off the bus. Butts goes 6-foot-10, 285 pounds, and averaged a respectible 8.5 points and 8.1 boards during the 2009-2010 campaign. Butts had seven double-doubles, and is simply a fun guy to root for given his immense size.
Adjehi Baru, F/C, College of Charleston - Rarely do top recruits surface in the Southern Conference, but Baru is exactly that - a rare recruit. Originially from the Ivory Coast, Baru lived with a host family while playing for a small private school in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. He checked in at #28 in Rivals.com's 2011 recruting rankings, and had offers from the likes of Kentucky and North Carolina. He's raw offensively, but is a relentless rebounder and shot blocker, and should be an immediate contributor. He's also center eligible!
Shifting our attention north for a look at the Patriot League, I want to give a shout out to one of the best authors out there, John Feinstein. If you haven't read any of his work, I question where you've been for the past two decades, but as it specifically relates here, Feinstein highlighted the Patriot League in a book titled The Last Amateurs. And while the title no longer rings true, it's still a heck of a story. Those not familiar the this league, the basics are they don't give out athletic scholarships. That is not a 100% blanket statement ... but just go with it for now please.
Mike Muscala, F/C, Bucknell - Woo hoo - this article is becoming a center party! Muscala is a legit big man, going 6-foot-10, 232 pounds, and led the conference in blocks last season with two per game. Mix in 14.9 points, 7.4 boards and a cool 81.6% free throw shooting, and you simply have one of the best the Patriot League has to offer. Muscala had seven double-doubles in 2010-2011.
C.J. McCollum, G, Lehigh - What's not to love about the conference's leading scorer from a season ago? McCollum dropped 21.8 points on opponents in 2010-2011, and also finished third in the league with 7.3 rebounds. Now might be a good time to point out he's a 6-foot-3 guard. And he's done it two seasons in a row now, after averaging 19.1 points and five boards as a freshman. He also shot 84.5% from the foul line, and swiped 2.5 steals a season ago. McCollum is a stat stuffing machine who had a 42-point outing against Kent State, four 30+ point efforts, and ten double-doubles.
Jordan Sugars, G, Navy - There's something about the Patriot League that lends itself to guard heavy rebounding numbers. Sugars is another example, as the 6-foot-3 senior pulled down six rebounds last year. He isn't as capable of going off like McCollum is, but he did average 16 points, and scored in double-figures in all but three of the Midshipmen's games. Mix in 1.4 steals to boot, and Sugars is a nifty option.
Ella Ellis, F, Army - We can't recognize one service academy without looking at the other, so I bring you Ella Ellis, the Black Knights' leading returning scorer and rebounder from a season ago. Ellis' sophomore numbers of 14.6 points and 5.3 boards seemingly came out of nowhere, after a freshman season that saw him get just 2.6 points and 1.4 boards in a shade over nine minutes. One caveat here is Ellis had the help of Jeremy Hence (15.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg) a year ago. It will be interesting to see if Ellis can maintain his success with defenses gearing up to stop him as option A.
Devin Brown, G, Holy Cross - Brown isn't the most well rounded player, but he's good at what he does; scoring. Brown pumped in 15.4 points last season, and is a safe bet to at least hit that number again this year. He only averaged 2.1 boards and 1.4 assists, so you'll have to find balance elsewhere.
Dan Trist, F, Lafayette - If you are feeling really lucky on draft night, or have to take a freshman - give Trist at least some thought. Honestly, we don't know much about him, other than he's 6-foot-9, 217 pounds and hails from Syndey, Australia. But he has international experience (note experience, not success) from playing in the FIBA U19 World Championships, and we've seen folks from down under make immediate impacts in the lower tiers before (St. Louis' Cody Ellis, St. Mary's Matthew Dellavedova,) so there is some reason for optimism.