Sports fans, myself included, absolutely love lists. They just can’t get enough of them.
From the Top 5 rivalries of all-time to the Top 10 power forwards in NBA history and Top 100 players of the century, the reason lists are so entertaining is because they spark immediate debate and also allow fans — or haters — to judge whether they deem the lists to be accurate or not.
Around here, few lists go over better than ones about Kansas basketball and, earlier today, I scrolled across a list at espn.com that I thought KU fans would love to hear about.
It’s in the Insider package so if you pay for such access, be sure to [check it out here.][1] If not, here’s all you need to know.
With March approaching (after today, there are just 12 days remaining in February) ESPN Insider’s John Gasaway put together a list of the 50 college basketball players who he believes could make “the most noise in March.”
Naturally curious, I clicked on it to see how many Jayhawks made the list. Somewhat surprisingly, there was just one, but that one came in at No. 3 on Gasaway’s list.
I’m sure by now you’ve already guessed who the one is, but I’ll go ahead and say I was a little surprised that at least one other Jayhawk did not make the cut, most likely Wayne Selden because of his great start to the season, big game against Kentucky and huge showing in Korea last summer.
After thinking about it, a Top 50 means that 18 teams that will make the field (many of which we don’t actually know yet) will not be represented on this list. And when you look at it that way, it’s hard to justify picking multiple players from too many teams. In fact, Gasaway did not double up on any teams, which may have been a rule he imposed to keep himself from loading up on the high-profile teams. If so, good for him. The list is full of lesser-known names and is definitely worth the read if you’re jonesing for an early start on your bracket.
As for the lone KU rep, here’s what Gasaway had to say about senior forward Perry Ellis:
> “Ellis has been on a tear in Big 12
> play, and the senior has been drawing
> more fouls this season than at any
> time in his career. For the better
> part of four seasons, Bill Self has
> been able to play the 6-foot-8 Ellis
> at power forward and get highly
> efficient scoring in an exceptionally
> low-foul, low-turnover and low-drama
> package.”
[1]: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/14787038/50-players-impact-conference-tournaments-ncaa-tournament
