Man of the Year: Doug McDermott is Creighton's Shining Star in 2013
December 15th, 2013 - 10:55
Creighton All-American forward Doug McDermott isn't Nelson Mandela or Pope Francis, but he is Man of the Year in college basketball according to CollegeHoopedia.com. Now we know what German native Dirk Nowitzki would have done if he played for a U.S. university. Although ESPN the Magazine is supposed to be the beacon of sports journalism, it didn't give McDermott or Creighton much recognition in its college hoops preview issue. But following are "high-five" reasons inspiring McDermott's man-of-year selection and why the proclamation isn't the biggest lie in 2013:
Barring McDermott missing any contests the remainder of the regular season and continuing to average 25 points per game, he will finish fifth all-time in NCAA scoring if the Bluejays have at least four assignments in postseason play (league postseason tournament and national postseason tourney). McDermott is expected in early March to become the 14th player in NCAA history to total at least 4,000 career points and rebounds. His consistent brilliance is reflected in that he will become only the sixth major-college player in NCAA history to crack the 800-point plateau in three consecutive DI seasons, joining luminaries Oscar Robertson (1958-59-60/Cincinnati), Pete Maravich (1968-69-70/Louisiana State), Freeman Williams (1976-77-78/Portland State), Larry Bird (1977-78-79/Indiana State) and Wayman Tisdale (1983-84-85/Oklahoma).
There is every indication that the nation's latest "Great White Hope" will become only the second three-time NCAA consensus first-team All-American since the mid-1980s. Last season, he was among the first group of Caucasian players in 34 years to account for at least half of the NCAA consensus first- and second-team All-Americans.
After failing to be ranked among the nation's top 100 recruits coming out of high school in 2010 (including many selfie-taking prima donnas), the nation's most famous "walk-on" could become the third MVP in two different NCAA Division I leagues (first with undisputed awards).
Delaying an NBA career, team-oriented McDermott returned for senior year to help his alma mater make the transition from a mid-major conference (Missouri Valley) to a power alliance (Big East) as seamless as him making more than 40 free throws in a row. He could join LSU legend Maravich as only the second player to capture three conference MVP awards while a member of his father's roster. Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson deserves some sort of ESPY or humanitarian award for allowing McDermott to get out of his letter-of-intent with the Panthers and join his dad (Greg) with the Bluejays after leaving Iowa State.
If Creighton finishes in the first division of the Big East, McDermott and his father might be cited as the premier son-father/player-coach tandem in NCAA history. The younger McDermott could enter virgin territory insofar as none of the previous 28 schools joining an existing power alliance (since Arizona and Arizona State left the WAC for Pac-8/10 in late 1970s) had an individual named conference player of the year in their debut season.
Other than McDermott, how many current collegians would be worthy of NCAA consensus All-American selection 30 years ago, 20 years ago or 10 years ago? Again, many in the lame-stream media don't have the Bluejays ranked as high as they should. But whether or not the McDermott tandem is acknowledged as the "First Family of Hoops," Doug has long ago silenced "Daddy's Boy" hecklers. Averaging 24.9 ppg in his first seven league contests in a new alliance, he would repeat as Man of the Year in 2014 if Creighton captures a Big East title.