Don't forget that Fair was named ACC Preseason Player Of The Year, and he was also my pick to win the award when he decided to come back for his senior season. What's happened since then? More or less the emergence of the top two freshman in the nation in Ennis and Duke's Jabari Parker. But this is more than just a three man race. Here's my rankings through Wednesday's games:
1.) Jabari Parker, Duke- Jabari Parker had his case of midseason slump, but it's safe to say that is over and done with. In the past 5 games, the freshman phenom is averaging 17.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Despite fouling out in the loss at 'Cuse, Parker is the reason Duke has regained its swagger winning 6 of 7. The biggest win in that stretch was in Pittsburgh, one of the hardest places to play in the country, where Parker scored 21 and pulled in 11 boards for his 7th double double of the season.
2.) CJ Fair, Syracuse- After going off against Duke for 28 points, CJ shot 2-13 and scored just 6 points against Notre Dame. Besides that mishap, Fair has been Mr. Consistent for the Orange offense. Before Monday's game, Fair had put up double figures in 17 straight games. To me, he's still Syracuse's go-to player and he proved that in the Duke game. This was a tough call, but Parker is consistently putting up more points and more rebounds than Fair. While CJ has reached 20 points in just 6 games this season, Parker has more than doubled that with 13 20-point games. If you watch the two play, Parker is definitely more of a force to be reckoned with, but it's close.
3.) Tyler Ennis, Syracuse- There's no doubt that Tyler Ennis has emerged onto the scene as one of the best freshman in the country. Ennis' stability is just what Syracuse has needed. He manages games, gets the ball where it needs to go, and scores pretty efficiently. On top of that, Ennis is fantastic at the top of the 2-3 zone averaging almost two and a half steals per game. Asking who is more valuable between CJ and Tyler isn't really a fair question (no pun intended) because they feed off of one another. I'm giving the edge to CJ here because of the Duke game.
4.) Lamar Patterson, Pittsburgh- Patterson might be the best pure shooter in the ACC, shooting 43% from 3 and 48% from the field. On top of his scoring, Patterson is a capable passer with over four assists a game, most of them to big man Talib Zanna on the inside. With good strength and toughness, the 6-5 small forward is a good rebounder and above average defender. It was hard not to put T.J. Warren here, because there is no doubt he is the best overall scorer in the ACC (22.4 ppg). However, Patterson is a key to his teams success where Warren just shoots 18 times a game and NC State is probably not even a tourney team.
5.) Rodney Hood, Duke- There's really nothing Rodney Hood can't do. At 6-8, he is one of the hardest jump shots to stop in college basketball as Syracuse found out on February 1st. After transferring to Duke last year from Mississippi State, Hood has exploded onto the scene as one of the ACC's elite. There's no question that Parker is the man in Durham, but Hood constantly reminds people that he is worthy of attention too or else he will go off, just ask Notre Dame. Rakeem Christmas still has his number though:
HONORABLE MENTION
TJ Warren, NC Sate
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
~Ted Gioia
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