Luke Winn's Top 10 Seniors

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Nov 1, 2006

Luke Winn's Top 10 Seniors

Jared Jordan, PG

Jordan, the savvy floor general for the preseason favorite to win the MAAC, led the nation in assists last season with 8.5 per game. He also led his team in scoring (16.1 points per game) and rarely, if ever, came off the floor, averaging 39.0 minutes per game.

Acie Law, PG

Law has helped to resurrect the Aggies' program, moving it from the Big 12 cellar to the Top 25. He serves as A&M's relentless floor leader -- and tops the team in points (16.1 per game) and assists (4.0). Law and junior big man Joseph Jones are the best inside-outside duo in the league.

Nate Funk, SG

Funk's return -- after he was granted a medical redshirt following shoulder surgery -- is the biggest reason the Bluejays are a staple in most preseason Top 25s. He averaged 17.8 points per game as a junior and, before bowing out with his injury, put up 38 points on Dayton in Creighton's third game last season.

Morris Almond, SG

Almond, who at 6-foot-6 has a smooth, score-at-will style, emerged as a future NBA two-guard with a strong showing at the predraft camp in June. He opted to come back to Rice after averaging 21.9 points as a junior -- and should be considered the best player, hands down, in the C-USA.

Aaron Gray, C

Gray, a 7-footer who declared for the draft and might have been a first-round pick, came back to Pitt to make a run at a Big East title. He averaged a double double (13.5 points, 10.5 boards) and is a glass-cleaner on both sides of the floor: 121 of his 345 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Brandon Heath, SG

Heath, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year, led the conference in points per game (18.4), three-pointers (98) and free-throw percentage (84.9). His return is the reason the Aztecs are an overwhelming favorite to repeat as league champs -- and perhaps crack the Top 25.

Al Thornton, F

Thornton, if you recall, was the guy who lit up Cameron Indoor last season with 37 points and 15 rebounds against Duke -- and he's back, on a mission to get the 'Noles into the NCAA tournament. A versatile wing player, Thornton crashes the glass (6.9 rebounds per game) but also knocks down threes at an impressive rate (47.6 percent).

Jared Dudley, F

Dudley has to be <i>the</i> guy at BC now that Craig Smith's wide load -- and 17.6 points per game -- are gone from the post. Dudley, a versatile small forward who led the team in minutes last season (37.2 per game), averaged 16.7 points and had an impressive 115 assists, which was the Eagles' next-highest total after point guard Louis Hinnant's.

Alando Tucker, F

In this, his fifth season in Madison, the ultra-athletic Tucker is now the class of the Big Ten. He averaged 19.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a junior. He worked on his jump shot -- which in years past was his weak spot -- in the offseason and should add a perimeter dimension to his game in the Badgers' swing offense.

Nick Fazekas, F/C

Fazekas, who stayed out of the NBA draft and likely will win his third straight WAC Player of the Year award this season, is a rare big man who's almost automatic from the charity stripe. The 6-foot-11 star hit 84.6 percent of his free throws last season -- and shot 52.9 percent from the field -- en route to averaging a double double: 21.8 points and 10.4 rebounds.

Luke Winn's Top 10 Seniors