The first semester is over in college classrooms, not to mention the basketball arenas. Let’s see some of those who pulled A’s. Specifically, the national individual leaders in 10 major stat categories.
The Durham legacy who could accomplish something seen only twice in Division I men’s college basketball in the past 90 years.
Duke freshman Cameron Boozer
The NCAA record book lists season scoring champions back to 1936 and only two are freshmen — VMI’s Jason Conley in 2002 and Oklahoma’s Trae Young in 2018. Having some college mileage seems to usually help; six of the past seven scoring leaders were either seniors or graduate students.
But Boozer’s 23.3 average through his first 12 college games is better than anyone at the moment, not to mention the 13.0 of his father Carlos when he was a Duke freshman. Boozer has already scored 35 points twice — no Blue Devil freshman had ever done that before — and topped 25 points in a game six times. He is averaging a double-double.
“I enjoyed watching him as much as most people I’ve seen at Duke, and I’ve seen a lot of good ones,” Tom Izzo said after Boozer threw an 18-15 double-double at Michigan State. “But just his whole demeanor, and maybe it’s his bloodlines with his dad, and maybe it’s Jon (Scheyer) doing a hell of a job, and maybe the kid is just a special player. But when he can beat you with the pass, the dribble, the rebound and the 3-point shot, there aren’t many guys that we’ve ever played against (who could do that).”
Incidentally, the player right behind Boozer at the moment in scoring at 23.1 is BYU’s AJ Dybantsa. Another freshman.
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The hometown kid who went to high school 2 ½ miles from the college arena where he now stars.
Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey
He leads the nation in assist-turnover ratio and is ahead by a couple of laps. Lipsey has handed out 52 assists for the unbeaten Cyclones. He has committed only six turnovers. That’s a ratio of 8.67, and second best in the country is 6.00. The sacking of Purdue was fairly typical for Lipsey — eight assists, not a single turnover. He has played 112 games at Iowa State and started them all and has been around long enough to be only the fourth Iowan to play for the Cyclones and beat Iowa three times.
That’s a pretty good way to stay beloved in your hometown.
The 6-11 dunkmaster who hangs around the basket waiting for good things to happen.
Furman’s Cooper Bowser
He’s taken 85 shots this season and missed only 16. The 81.2 field goal percentage leads the nation by 10 points. He’s 31 for 34 in his last four games, including making 21 in a row, and for the season has blocked only three fewer shots than he’s missed.
We’re not exactly talking an outside threat. In 79 career games, Bowser has put up two shots from behind the 3-point arc, none this season. Missed them both. His 59.0 free throw shooting percentage this season isn’t great either. But he’s averaging 13 points a game for a 9-4 team, and when he’s in the paint, he doesn’t miss.
The Ivy Leaguer who is a sure bet from 15 feet.
Columbia’s Kenny Noland
He’s gone to the free throw line 36 times this season and hasn’t missed yet. Matter of fact, the last one that didn’t go in was way back on Feb. 8, or 41 makes ago. You don’t have to be that good at math to know that his free throw percentage this season is 100 percent, the last perfect number in the nation for all those who have shot enough of them to qualify. But Noland probably wouldn’t have much problem figuring out any math equation. He had a 4.1 grade point average in high school.
Beware the beard, and the short guy wearing it.
Purdue’s Braden Smith.
Assists to fellow Boilermakers pour through him like Big Macs at the drive-thru window at the McDonald’s across the street from Mackey Arena. He’s averaging 9.6 a game this season to lead the nation, and with 873 career assists, needs only 18 for the Big Ten record and 204 for the NCAA all-time mark. Purdue has had 11 games in its entire history where someone handed out 14 or more assists in a game. Smith owns seven of them. His 1,526 career points, 584 rebounds and 205 steals confirm the all-around force he has been through 122 games — all starts — for the Boilermakers. He’s done everything for Purdue except shave. Given that, it’s a little shocking he has no triple-double to his name, but he’s come close 10 times.
The irony is that at Skyscraper U. — Purdue has had a 7-foot-2 player or taller on the roster for 12 consecutive seasons — it’s a 6-foot guard who is creating the current legend.
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The accomplished thief from the Mid-American Conference.
Bowling Green’s Javontae Campbell
He has played 45 career games for the Falcons, and only three of them have come without at least one steal. This season so far he has had eight in one game and six in three others, and nearly one of every five turnovers Bowling Green has forced is Campbell picking the other team’s pocket. His 3.69 steal average leads the nation, but he has accomplices in this theft ring. The Falcons also lead Division I with 13 steals a game as a team.
The 6-8 double-double machine.
Kent State’s Delrecco Gillespie
His 12.6 rebounds are the most in the country — and he’s given fair warning to the rest of the Mid-American Conference. He had 20 rebounds in the league-opening win over Massachusetts.
Gillespie also has 11 double-doubles in 12 games. That’s a continuation from last spring when he doubled in all three Kent State NIT contests.
The rim protector who could lead his league in consecutive seasons for two different schools.
Stephen F. Austin’s Jerald Colonel
It’s not so much the shots the 6-9 Colonel takes. He has a modest 45 field goal attempts for the season. It’s all those he returns to senders. He has 42 blocks in 11 games, the 3.82 average the nation’s best. Colonel led the Southland Conference in blocks last season as a Northwestern State Demon, then transferred to Stephen F. Austin. He could well repeat as Southland leader, except now he’s swatting shots in a different uniform.
The guard who went from never playing to never sitting.
Delaware’s Christian Bliss.
He spent two years at Virginia, where he played exactly zero minutes. First a redshirt season, then a year of injuries. Then he transferred to Delaware, and now he’s hardly ever off the floor. Bliss is averaging 38:51 a game, the most minutes in the nation. Only two other players are even over 37.
Bliss, who averages 14.4 points, has gone the distance in four of the Blue Hens’ 11 games, including all 45 minutes of an overtime loss to Delaware State. The most rest he has seen is 6:28 of the Southern Illinois loss.
The deadeye from the heartland.
Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic.
In the Cyclones’ most recent game, he put nine shots up from 3-point land. He missed only two. It was the 26th consecutive game in which he had made at least one, and a reason for his nation-leading 55.2 percentage in 3-pointers. Iowa State certainly profits from such accuracy. The Cyclones are 40-8 in his career when he makes multiple 3-pointers in a game.
Lipsey . . Momcilovic . . . no wonder Iowa State has won eight games by at least 25 points.
Just like Arizona has won seven consecutive games by at least 21 points . . . and Michigan has won five games by at least 40 . . . and Connecticut has allowed more than 63 points once in a game since mid-November . . . and Purdue has won its past three games by 28, 20 and 28 and beat Texas Tech — the team that just stunned Duke — by 30 . . . and Vanderbilt is 12-0 and just won its first ACC road game by 31 . . . and North Carolina is 12-1 and off to its best start since it won the national championship 17 years ago . . . and Gonzaga has hit 90 points nine times.
Lots of A’s earned out there. But that was just the first semester.
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