BASKETBALL wv columnist sneers at Nick King as "rent-a-star"

[SpaceRaider]

Doug Smock: Marshall's Elmore and Burks lead C-USA POY debate

...who’s the best “POY” candidate?

You hate to go straight off the full-season scoring, but I can’t see anybody but the Marshall duo and Middle Tennessee rent-a-star Nick King. Old Dominion and Western Kentucky hardly lack talent, but the wealth is shared more evenly on those two teams. Think about it: Darius Thompson or Justin Johnson can carry WKU in any particular game, but they’re not in the stratosphere for the individual honor.

Those are the two best opposing C-USA players I have seen at the Henderson Center, pending Old Dominion’s arrival Thursday night.

King, if you’re wondering, looked average when the Herd handed the Blue Raiders their only league loss.

But King can still win, especially if the Blue Raiders win their final three regular-season games and finish 17-1. It doesn’t hurt that MTSU cracked the top 25 Monday, ranking 24th in both major polls. The Raiders have Alabama-Birmingham, WKU and Marshall left, all at home.

By the numbers, King is second in C-USA in scoring at 21.44 points per game in all games, fifth in rebounding at 8.4 and 14th in field-goal shooting at 49.4 percent. The Alabama graduate transfer has won the Player of the Week award three times, most recently for his combined 47 points and 17 rebounds in wins over North Texas and Rice.

In the Raiders’ two biggest wins, he similarly shined: Against WKU, he scored 28 points and hauled down nine rebounds; against ODU, he went 17 and 11.....

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MTBig Blue]

Those hillbillies would give their left nut (assuming they have their left one) for a player like King.

 

[subkyle]

Someone please remind me but isn’t Marshall the football program that made their name by taking juco players and non qualifiers?? We all have our own way of acquiring players. This guy needs perspective

 

[blueraiderJT]

What has Marshall done in basketball? Jack Squat. Love the hate though. That's when you know you are doing something real as a program. Kermit is a talent finder. They call it rent a star but I call it "make a star" because Williams, Dendy, and King didn't have great careers before they came to MT. Kermit helped change them into great players and that's the difference.

We feed off hate so keep hating us CUSA. Maybe the rest of this conference will stop sucking so bad.

 

[altshauf]

Nevermind the guys in the past 5-6 years who were top all conference players. Not to mention 4-year guys. Someone like upshaw, Shawn jones, giddy Potts, etc... That’s what happens when you have a consistently strong program. I don’t know, but Tye Fagan just seems like the next guy that could be that player.
Personally I don’t mind the remark. It doesn’t matter how we got king, or anyone else for that matter. Bottom line is we are finding guys that make us better each year without academic issues. Wouldn’t you want it that way? If all else remains the same I would rather have a 1 and done star senior than a 1 and done star freshman. Typically they understand all of the things that come with being a student-athlete at the D1 level.

 

[Hop45]

I don't think he is a graduate transfer either. He sat out last year after transferring, IIRC. Haters........

 

[MidTennMtneer]

That guy is an idiot. But...

So what. We acquired him. Other schools could have. Marshall could have. They didn’t. Not like we are the only school or sport that does it. Baker Mayfield was a transfer. Will Grier. The list could go on.

He’s just jealous he plays for us.

 

[MTFNBY5]

I don't think he is a graduate transfer either. He sat out last year after transferring, IIRC. Haters........

Sat out his one red-shirt year at UA-T after transferring from Memphis. Graduated from UA-T last year therefore was eligible immediately at MT.

 

[BRaiderDave]

Sat out his one red-shirt year at UA-T after transferring from Memphis. Graduated from UA-T last year therefore was eligible immediately at MT.

King is a college graduate, not some non-qualifier like some other athletic departments readily accept. Let that dude eat cake.

 

[dukewayne]

Good, it's a sign of the success and comes with the Top 25 ranking. Ridiculous trash talk from opponents. Good material for posting in the locker room also.

Make no mistake, Kermit bringing in players for their 4th and final year of eligibility after typically 3 years of underperformance and disappointment is a big risk with absolutely no guarantees. This rent a player trash bitterness is just that, envious jealous bitterness. Tremendous credit to Kermit, asst coaches, and the other players for bringing in these transfers and getting them to realize their potential when other high level D1 coaches have not been able or did not realize the potential before them. It's incredible how Kermit can rapidly turn a player into a huge success. Obviously, credit to the transferring players for putting in the hard work to realize their potential, goals, and success.

After so many years of this type of success, you know the word has to be out around the college basketball world what Kermit is able to do with upperclassman transfers. One could see how more than a few would be looking to transfer to play for Kermit to resurrect their playing careers. At this point, his recruiting pitch is simple and straightforward. If you are talented and are willing to put in the extra effort, hard work, and do as I coach you, you too can achieve great success to finish your college career.

 

[SpaceRaider]

though this excerpt from a cusa notebook on the theathletic.com is talking about scoring title, I thought the argument was interesting and applicable to POY discussion:

...Three players have a legitimate chance with just four more regular season games to go.

Two Marshall (19-8, 10-4) teammates are in contention. Jon Elmore, a 6-5 junior point guard, is the league leader at 22.0 points per game, and he’s also trying to hold onto the top spot in assists. He’s averaging about a half an assist per game more than Old Dominion’s Ahmad Caver (6.9-6.5).

Middle Tennessee’s Nick King, the highest-scoring graduate transfer in the country (21.4 ppg), is right behind Elmore, tied with Marshall’s C.J. Burks.

A look at the remaining schedule would suggest King has the advantage to bring home a scoring title in his first and only season at Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders play their final three games at home, where King has averaged 19.6 points (counting his only single-digit scoring effort all season, six points against Southern Miss). The opponents — UAB, Western Kentucky and Marshall — will all offer challenges, and King has a knack for rising to the occasion.

Ken Pomeroy’s advanced analytics also seem to favor King, who started out at Memphis, transferred to Alabama and left the Crimson Tide after last season so he’d finally have a chance to be the focal point of a team’s offense. When MTSU coach Kermit Davis, who had recruited King since his high school days in Memphis, promised King he would be the man in Murfreesboro, he wasn’t kidding.

King’s usage rate, per kenpom.com, is 32.4 percent, 15th in the country. And 34.4 percent of the Blue Raiders’ possessions end in a King shot. That’s 17th nationally.

Elmore and Burks almost cancel one another out. Elmore’s usage rate is higher (28.5-25.9), but 29.1 percent of Marshall’s last shots in a possession are taken by Burks, compared to 25.6 for Elmore, whose assist rate of 31.5 percent is 63rd in Division I.

If Elmore has an edge over his teammate, it’s in playing time. He logs 94.9 percent of the available minutes, third in the country, compared to 85.1 percent for Burks.....

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

All I care about is the TEAM winning the conference and making NCAA's...If Marshall wants a trophy I quess POY is the best they can get.

 

[sWiley]

He can hate all he wants. Nick King is a legit NBA draft prospect whom I suspect will be a 2nd round selection by somebody.

 

[dukewayne]

Have to agree with Kermit on this matter, POY will likely go to that guy with the conf championship team.