Rashod Kent, Rutgers
Rutgers’ 6-foot-6 senior has dominated the Big East boards. Kent pulled down 15 and 16 rebounds respectively in huge upsets of Notre Dame and Miami last week. The marquee victories might put Rutgers into the NCAAs for the first time since 1991.
Bringing the Scarlet Knights back to prominence has been a priority for the 21-year-old. More of a mountain than a man, Kent spurned hometown West Virginia for Rutgers in 1998. Then, a month ago, he and his teammates snapped a four-game losing skid to WVU.
Since, Rutgers is 6-1, and Kent has been hot all over the court, navigating his 265-pound frame deftly in the post as well as in man-to-man. He scored 18 against Notre Dame and held the Hurricanes’ Elton Tyler to four points on 1-of-1 shooting.
Kent averages a double-double and a conference best 10.6 boards a game, and Rutgers is 17-8 (7-5 Big East). He also contributes 1.9 steals and two blocks per game.
Just the team’s third-leading scorer with a 10.4-point average, Kent’s leadership and intensity are what make him a prime candidate to have an impact in March. Despite fouling out with just over a minute and a half to play against the Irish, he was dynamic and vocal from the sidelines, which helped his team keep focused and hold on for a three-point victory.
Kent can continue to push Rutgers to its goal of a deep tournament run — even if it ends up being in the NIT.
Thomas Jackson, Butler
His team’s leading scorer and best defender, Thomas Jackson is also Butler’s most unselfish player. Jackson, who is generously listed as 5-foot-9, has led teammates to the hoop and dished 121 times this season.
His assist-to-turnover ratio is better than Duke’s Jason Williams, Maryland’s Steve Blake or the nation’s assists leader, T.J. Ford of Texas. Jackson has to pass around tree-size defenders because he cannot jump over them. No, he can’t get that high, but he finds the altitude from which to drop in 14 points a game.
He is also Butler’s winningest player.
The point guard, who was voted the Horizon League’s preseason Player of the Year, will be the conference’s all-time wins leader (99) should the Bulldogs take its tournament championship. That will also earn Butler its fourth consecutive postseason berth.
Jackson has been the story, the littlest man coming up the biggest for Butler when needed. He averaged 16.6 points in a noteworthy sweep of five other Indiana schools, including Purdue, then-No. 21 Ball State and Big Ten-leading Indiana. Jackson was MVP of the Hoosier Classic, which Butler kept Indiana from winning for the first time in 19 years.
He has been known to produce in March, going for his trademark 14 against Wake Forest in the 2001 NCAA Tournament and posting a double-double in the second round against national finalist Arizona. But Jackson’s fireplug defense is the reason he should be at the center of Butler’s success this year.
Frederick Jones, Oregon
The Ducks are no longer the surprise of the Pac-10, leading or tied for the lead since the beginning of the conference season. But behind all the hype of the sensational sophomore guards Luke Ridnour and Luke Jackson, the startling fact is that Frederick Jones is the driving wind beneath Oregon’s wings.
The Ducks like to play a fast-tempo game and are not afraid to throw up shots, as directed by head coach Ernie Kent. So where does the powerful, postable Jones fit in? Oregon also likes to score (86.5 ppg), and no one does that better, or with more flair, than Jones.
The senior averages 18 points per game, three more than either Ridnour or Jackson, and his aerial artistry earned him an invitation to ESPN’s College Slam Dunk contest during the Final Four.
Kent may want him to think twice about accepting, especially if a high Oregon tournament draw paves the way for a trip to Atlanta for the rest of the team. And be sure Jones will do his part to get them there.
Just 6-foot-4, he holds his own on the boards with big men Robert Johnson and Chris Christofferson and remains the most consistent outlet down low (53.5 percent field goals).
But Jones’ size leaves him mobile enough to go outside, where he is 27 of 78 from three-point range and makes him an excellent target on the Ducks’ specialty, the fast break.
Erwin Dudley, Alabama
Alabama has been perhaps the most hushed of national contenders this year, but not as quiet as its senior center Erwin Dudley. As the Tide rolled up a 10-2 record in the SEC West, Dudley managed to stay out of the spotlight despite averaging 16 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
In his last five outings, Dudley has five double-doubles. He has not scored in single digits since New Year’s Eve. Yet NBA prospect Rod Grizzard and freshman point guard Mo Williams have been lauded for Alabama’s sudden rise from an NIT invitation last year to the nation’s No. 5 ranking.
It must be hard to hide when you are 6-foot-8, but Dudley has told reporters he prefers to let others get attention, if that is where it falls. SEC coaches, however, cannot afford to overlook him.
Dudley scored 25 points in a win over Tennessee Saturday, the fourth consecutive game and eighth time this season in which he has posted at least 20 — but he has never even taken 20 shots in a game. Hitting 58.9 percent of his shots, a bad game for Dudley was going 10-19 against Ole Miss two weeks ago, when he went for 22 and 10.
Though it seems ‘Bama can play well as a team when it does not need Dudley (he scored just 12 and made four rebounds in 18 minutes when the Crimson Tide beat Georgia on the road), his production will be necessary in the Dance.
