This J.J. Redick versus Adam Morrison race really has been remarkable. In my history of following college basketball, I can only recall one player from a major school leading the nation in scoring – Glenn Robinson of Purdue (to be fair, I didn’t even remember that he led the nation until this Featherston article). There were a couple of other All-American-type players from smaller schools – Hersey Hawkins and Lionel Simmons, but generally national scoring leaders are unknown players from unknown schools. It’s just normally contraindacitive to have a great team and one guy scoring so many points.
But this year we have J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison. Both great players at great programs on teams having great seasons. Duke is #1 and Gonzaga is #5.
It’s incredible really.
On top of that, I’ve found myself really enjoying watching Redick climb the list of the ACC’s all-time scorers. I didn’t realize just why I was liking it so much (other than the pleasure of watching a player compete at such a high level for a whole season) until I read Al Featherston’s piece on the two scorers. He points out that as Redick moves up the list, we get to remember and reflect on those past great players. That’s it! This season has been not just about the present, but the past. I’ve found myself reminiscing about past Virginia greats Curtis Staples and Bryant Stith as well as some of my favorite ACC players, like Johnny Dawkins. I loved watching Dawkins play – he was so smooth and fast.
So, even if you’re getting tired of the Redick and Morrison hype, read Featherston’s article. As always, he does a great job of looking into the past to explain the present.
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