Players to Watch

Everyone knows about the Tyler Hanboroughs and the Michael Beasleys of the world. I have taken on the responsibility of procuring a list for you, that will help you keep your eyes peeled for mid-major players who will be fun or important to watch. Enjoy!

1. Courtney Lee, Western Kentucky
At this point, anyone who watches the tournament previews and reads online should know about Courtney Lee, he has become the "it" sleeper guy to light it up in the tournament, and for good reason. The 6 foot 5 swingman considered leaving for the draft after last season until he came back to Western Kentucky to improve his draft stock. Now, he is averaging 20.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.7 steals, good for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 1st on the team respectively.

The best part about his game that I can see, from the meager highlights of him dunking on someone from Florida Atlantic is that he takes the ball to the rim a lot, and loves contact. He shot 167 free throws this season, which is a average amount for a swingman, but he really seeks the contact and has great balance and body control in the air which allows him to score often.

Watch for him to really take advantage of an undersized overachieving Drake team, outside of Klayton Korver, they won't have anyone even remotely capable of guarding him.

2. Josh Young, Drake
Josh Young makes the list because despite his relative small stature, and the fact that he is often overshadowed by deserved media darling Adam Emmenecker, he is the best player on the Drake team by a long shot. He is a pure sniper who is able to find his shot over taller players using screens and good pump fakes. He averaged 15.8 points per game, and more than half of his shots came from behind the arc, and for good reason as he shot 44.6 percent.

He is so fun to watch because he is a miniature Stephen Curry. You look at Young and you can't imagine this guy tearing up a conference as difficult as the MVC, but he has no fear, and will literally shoot, and probably make it, from anywhere on the court. His speed and quick hands give him a penchant for thieving the ball from the opposing team although he only averages 1.3 steals per game. The Drake v. Western Kentucky matchup is a fun one.

3. Jason Richards, Davidson
With my apologies to Stephen Curry, who doesn't make this list, Richards is the gas that makes the Wildcats go. He is the nation's leader in assists (it helps playing with Curry, when a simple swing pass can turn into an assist) and also a potent scorer from the perimeter for Davidson. I love point guards, especially under-sized, heady point guards, and Richards fits that bill.

Not only did he average 8 assists all season while taking relatively good care of the basketball, he is an accurate shooter from downtown who can't be left alone as he averaged 12.6 points per game, and while he shoots only 33 percent from behind the arc, he took nearly 157 shots from downtown so clearly it isn't a factor. But whats even better about those stats is that 157 is not half of his field goal attempts, and he is not exactly a large guy. If you watch him he rarely takes bad shots, including his misses, and has no problems going into the land of the Sycamores down low and trying to draw some contact.

He reminds me a lot of a Jared Jordan. Jordan was known for his passing but could really fill it up as well, and while Richards is the nation's leader in assists, he is not afraid to score as well. His match up with Jeremy Pargo will be a fantastic match up between two very underrated guards.

4. Demetric Bennett, South Alabama
South Alabama coach Ronnie Arrow must be thanking his stars that John Pelphrey left him with such a talented roster, and the player who really exemplifies that sentiment is Demetric Bennett. At 6 foot 4, 205 pounds, Demetric Bennett is different from Richards and Young and similar to Lee in the sense that instead of relying solely on skill to score, he can boss the defender around a little bit as well. Thats not to say that he doesn't have a lot of skill as well. He averaged over 20 points per game and shot 42 percent from behind the arc. He also went to the free throw line 157 times, same as Lee, and shot 83 percent from the stripe.

Where he differs from Lee is that he is not content sitting on the perimeter and watching the other bang inside, he likes to get in there and mix it up with the big men. He averaged 5.9 rebounds including 145 defensive rebounds showing that he was not leaking out on the fast break looking for easy points.

NBA scouts really love him because he is a good ball handler, capable of creating his own shot, and he is also a physical specimen who should have no problem adapting to the banging that takes place in the NBA. He will be matched up probably with Matt Howard from Butler, and that will be maybe the most fun match up to watch of all.

5. Garrison Carr, American University
Welcome to Part 3 of "The Little Men that Could" with your host Earl Boykins. Carr is the reason why American is in the NCAA tournament, and its really only for two reasons, but both of them make him extremely fun to watch. First of all, he rarely, if ever comes inside the 3-point line. Its safe to assume that all of his two point field goals were meant to be threes, but his foot was on the line. That being said, at 5 foot 11, 165 pounds, he averaged 18.1 points per game for the Patriot League champs, and it seems like every 3-pointer he shoots goes in.

Second reason to watch Garrison Carr is that he is like a pinball, he never ever stops running, and he rarely is ever is taken out because coach Jeff Jones can't afford to have his biggest threat on the bench. Tennessee will run ragged over American, but my guess is that they will not keep their eye on Garrison Carr the whole game and he will go all Stephen Curry v. Maryland of last year and hang 20+ on the Volunteers.

Honorable Mention:

Reggie Lary, Boise St.

Matt Howard, Butler.

Terrence Oglesby, Clemson.

Jeremy Goode, Mt. Saint Mary's.

Edwin Ubiles, Siena.