MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[algernon]

It's early, but I think the players who will be honored as first-team All-ODAC are likely to be chosen from these guys:

Stephen Fields - VWC  ... SR
Dominic Trawick - BC ... SR
Tyler Sanborn - GC ... SR
Clay Henson - GC ... SR
Todd Phillips - EMU ... JR
Steven Echols - LC ... SR
Turner King - HSC ... SR

What do you think?

[donho]

 My possible picks: Hinson-EMU, Fields-VWC, Trawick-BC, Sanborn-GC, Henson-GC, Philips-EMU.                              
 
 FOY -I do not pick,  show me four years and become POY, is what I say.


  POY- Sanborn-GC

[ODACHOOPS]

Trawick is on a tear, dudes a stud and is in my mind clearly the most talented player in the ODAC!  He is the one player that can do it all and can go off for big numbers on any given night against any given team.  Fields is close behind him in that category but the nod clearly goes to Trawick, plus Fields in on a much more talented team.  Hasanova you still "not sure if Trawick is a first team guy"?? hahaha The kid plays on a very average team and is clearly the #1 option that all teams focus on to stop night in and night out and he still get's it done. 

He is my vote for POY thus far...as far as FOY goes, that to me is Harrison George from HSC.  That kid is a beast,  I would be shocked if he stayed at HSC for all 4 years.  Although looking at HSC's history of losing out on FOY races I wouldn't be surprised at all if it went to another freshman.

The ODAC tournament can't get here fast enough!  This year's race is as wide open as I can remember.

[bigrips77]

First, I think all four ODAC teams will stay within the Top 15  (Guilford #2, VWC #9, R-MC #10, EMU #13).

Secondly, I think everyone's on the right track with regard to who should make First Team All-ODAC.  As for POY, I like Trawick except for the fact that he can go off and Bridgewater still loses some games.  Compare that to Fields for VWC and Henson or Sanborn for GC... if you take any of them out of the equation, those two teams become much more beatable.  Granted, this is POY and not MVP, so I have to give the nod to Trawick at this point but this battle is far from done.

[algernon]

...as far as FOY goes, that to me is Harrison George from HSC.  That kid is a beast,  I would be shocked if he stayed at HSC for all 4 years.  Although looking at HSC's history of losing out on FOY races I wouldn't be surprised at all if it went to another freshman.

ODACHOOPS .....  Excuse me for wondering whether your team loyalties are such that you HOPE that Harrison George leaves HSC to play for a Division I institution?

An ODAC Freshman of the Year player moving to a Division I institution?  That almost never happens, despite the fact that a number of FOYs are talented enough to play for DI teams.  Here is the "recent" history of ODAC FOYs (1997-2009):

1997 Freshman of the Year: Rich Peterson, W&L - If I remember correctly, Peterson played well for 4 years at W&L.  However, he never played well enough to make an All-ODAC team.

1998 Freshman of the Year: Jon Evans, GC - I don't really remember this guy ... He was 2nd Team All-ODAC in his sophomore year, but that's all I know.

1999 Freshman of the Year: Kyle Williford, BC - Kyle meets any possible definition of "a beast," and I mean that as a real compliment.  HSC fans did not like to go up against Kyle because he could dominate a game.  He was 1st Team All-ODAC in his sophomore, junior, and senior years – and Player of the Year as a senior.  Over his career, Kyle scored over 1900 points, got more than 900 rebounds, and set Bridgewater's record with 193 blocked shots.  He set the ODAC single-game scoring record with 56 points against Roanoke in January 2002, including 18-for-29 from the floor and 6-for-10 from 3-point range.  During a four-game streak that month, Williford averaged 41 points and 12 rebounds per game.  Williford was a 2nd Team All-American in his junior year and 1st Team All-American in his senior year.  Steelyglen could probably say more ....

2000 Freshman of the Year: Jared Mills, RMC – 2nd Team All-ODAC in his sophomore year and 1st Team All-ODAC in his junior, and senior years -- and Player of the Year as a senior.  Mills was a 4th Team All-American in his senior year.  Led Randolph-Macon to a #1 ranking near the end of his senior year, when they made it to the Sweet Sixteen and hosted one of the four sectionals.

2001 Freshman of the Year: Kurt Bergmann, RMC – Led the league in 3ptFG% his sophomore year, when he was 1st Team All-ODAC.  Honored as 2nd Team All-ODAC in his junior and senior years.  Another big piece of Randolph-Macon's 2002-2003 Sweet Sixteen team.

2002 Freshman of the Year: E.J. Arrington, EMU – I don't really remember what happened during his career.  I'll bet that someone else can help me out here.

2003 Freshman of the Year: Justin Wansley, RMC – HSC fans also did not like to see Justin Wansley on the other team .... which they frequently did for 4 years.  dominate a game.  He was 1st Team All-ODAC in his sophomore, junior, and senior years – and Player of the Year as a junior.  Over his career, I don't know how many points he scored, but it was a helluva lot.  Wansley was a 3rd Team All-American in his junior year.

2004 Freshman of the Year: Brandon Adair, VWC – Brandon Adair was one of the best players to ever play in the ODAC.  No question about it.  He was 1st Team All-ODAC in his sophomore, junior, and senior years – and Player of the Year as a junior.  He led the Marlins to a national championship as a junior in 2006, when he was a First-Team All-American.  Then he led them to a second consecutive national championship game as a senior in 2007, when he was a Second-Team All-American.

2005 Freshman of the Year: Kerry Atkinson, Guilford – Atkinson began his career at Guilford with Ben Strong (and Ben did not actually start in his freshman year, but got a lot of time off the bench).  Atkinson transferred to Division II North Carolina Central University after his freshman year and the Quaker team he left behind got as far as the Elite Eight in what would have been Atkinson's junior year.  I'm not sure how much he actually played during his sophomore year at N.C. Central but he wasn't on the team by his junior year.  From what I've found on the web, he appears to have done some acting and modeling during his senior year of college.

2006 Freshman of the Year: David Carlson, RMC – Carlson was 1st Team All-ODAC in his sophomore year.  His checkered history at Randolph-Macon is known to many reading this discussion; suffice it to say that he was once again on the team at the beginning of the 2009-2010 season, but is now once again off the team.  All of us hope he will graduate and benefit in various ways from his college experience.

2007 Freshman of the Year: Dominic Trawick, Bridgewater – Trawick was 2nd Team All-ODAC in his freshman, sophomore, and junior years.  As a senior this year, he will certainly be honored as 1st Team All-ODAC ... and he may be another FOY who went on to be selected ODAC POY.  Trawick has scored a zillion points and can dominate a game.

2008 Freshman of the Year: Jordan Brown, RMC – Brown was 2nd Team All-ODAC in his sophomore year and will likely be similarly honored this year.  

2009 Freshman of the Year: Derrick Woods-Morrow, Randolph – He's playing very well again this year, averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds a game as a sophomore.

[algernon]

Thought others would be interested to know that Turner King has now moved past Nate Schwab into 6th place on the Tigers' Career Scoring list.  Turner has 1639 points and is likely to finish 4th on the All-Time list, moving past T.J. Grimes (1,740 pts) and Ralph Baker (1780 pts) before the end of the season.

[algernon]

First, I think all four ODAC teams will stay within the Top 15  (Guilford #2, VWC #9, R-MC #10, EMU #13).

I agree, but think they'll all be within the Top 12:  Guilford #2, VWC #7, R-MC #8, EMU #12.

[hasanova]

Trawick is on a tear, dudes a stud and is in my mind clearly the most talented player in the ODAC!  He is the one player that can do it all and can go off for big numbers on any given night against any given team.  Fields is close behind him in that category but the nod clearly goes to Trawick, plus Fields in on a much more talented team.  Hasanova you still "not sure if Trawick is a first team guy"?? hahaha The kid plays on a very average team and is clearly the #1 option that all teams focus on to stop night in and night out and he still get's it done.  

He is my vote for POY thus far...as far as FOY goes, that to me is Harrison George from HSC.  That kid is a beast,  I would be shocked if he stayed at HSC for all 4 years.  Although looking at HSC's history of losing out on FOY races I wouldn't be surprised at all if it went to another freshman.

The ODAC tournament can't get here fast enough!  This year's race is as wide open as I can remember.

- Is Trawick a great player? - Yes  ... and I said he was.  I'm not sure of anyone who'll be first team, but thanks for focusing on that one sentence.  He may be.
- Would I want him on my team?  Of course.
- If I could pick a team from all ODAC players, would he be my first choice? - No
- Is he the best player in the ODAC? - No, I don't think so.
- Will he be POY? - No, I don't think so.
- If he "gets it done" as consistently as you say, why are the Eagles 6-9?
- Right or wrong, has there ever been a POY from an ODAC team with a losing record? - Probably not.
- Unless the BC Eagles make a big push on his back the last 6 weeks, the POY will probably come from EMU, GC, RMC or VWC.

[stillfamily]

Trawick is a beast and very talented. The problem is u have to win. Anybody remember Jason Sager for emu? He was a career 20pts 10reb. But emu wasn't on the level they are now. Point being is sometimes great players get overlooked bc of team records.   With that being said emu's hinson, Johnson & Phillips are all as talented as trawick. Though they played awful at bc. Last sat.  So to skip on one of these 3 and put someone in from a team that isn't in the top tier may not happen

[bigrips77]

Regarding EMU, they have about 4 or 5 guys who can turn it on on any given night.  Of any on that roster, I'd say Phillips could be deserving of at least first team honors.  He's really burned it up against good competition this year.  If anything, the true honor for EMU should be for COY... this season's been a long time coming for Kirby Dean's program.

As for Trawick, I'll say again that he's playing the best ball of anyone in the ODAC, especially over the last couple weeks.  Then again, there's still a ways to go before we all head to Salem... It'll be interesting to see if he can keep this play up for the remainder of the Bridgewater schedule.  If so, that bodes well for the Eagles down the stretch.

[hasanova]

Regarding EMU, they have about 4 or 5 guys who can turn it on on any given night.  Of any on that roster, I'd say Phillips could be deserving of at least first team honors.  He's really burned it up against good competition this year.  If anything, the true honor for EMU should be for COY... this season's been a long time coming for Kirby Dean's program.

As for Trawick, I'll say again that he's playing the best ball of anyone in the ODAC, especially over the last couple weeks.  Then again, there's still a ways to go before we all head to Salem... It'll be interesting to see if he can keep this play up for the remainder of the Bridgewater schedule.  If so, that bodes well for the Eagles down the stretch.

I'll spend a little time later comparing everyone's boxscores when I get a chance, but I'd like to mention Clay Henson's 2-game week.  They were consecutive wins 11 and 12 for the Quakers with Henson going an identical 11 of 18 in both games and hitting a combined 14 of 24 beyond the arc.  He had 30 in the 96-62 win over Roanoke followed by 28 two nights later in GC's 79-67 win over Trawick's BC Eagles.  Those are stats that catch your attention - especially when you consider his 30 vs RC were posted in only 25 minutes.

Don't get me wrong, I think Trawick's a great player (go back and check my postgame reports on the GC/BC game), but there are lots of other fine players in the ODAC.  I can think of three Quakers that'll probably be on one of the first three all-conference teams.

[exodacer]

I think the POY will come from a team that finishes in the top 4 of the odac.  I dont think EMU has anyone who could be POY. Fields, Sandborn, Hinson and Trawick are my top 4 but I dont think the Eagles will finish in the top 4 of the league. However if your talking about the MVP of a team its no doubt Trawick.  If he doesnt get 20 plus the eagles dont have much of a chance.  The Kid was a beast on Saturday 36 points.  Also i read an article in the Harrisonburg paper this morning Johnson once again didnt give any credit to the Eagles and yet again promised another victory when the Eagles go to EMU.  Johnson has improved his record to 0-4 against the Eagles when it comes to predictions and in the last two meeting with the eagles he is 1-23 from the field including an 0-10 performance in last years ODAC tournament game against the Eagles.

FOY hands down to Harrison George of Sydney

[stillfamily]

I think the POY will come from a team that finishes in the top 4 of the odac.  I dont think EMU has anyone who could be POY. Fields, Sandborn, Hinson and Trawick are my top 4 but I dont think the Eagles will finish in the top 4 of the league. However if your talking about the MVP of a team its no doubt Trawick.  If he doesnt get 20 plus the eagles dont have much of a chance.  The Kid was a beast on Saturday 36 points.  Also i read an article in the Harrisonburg paper this morning Johnson once again didnt give any credit to the Eagles and yet again promised another victory when the Eagles go to EMU.  Johnson has improved his record to 0-4 against the Eagles when it comes to predictions and in the last two meeting with the eagles he is 1-23 from the field including an 0-10 performance in last years ODAC tournament game against the Eagles.

First off EMU has 3 Players that could get POY if they played on a team where they stood out more than what they do on EMU.  George Johnson, Todd Phillips, DJ Hinson  all have resumes that would put them in the  running.  They are JUNIORS that hurts them and they are all balanced in the attack which helps as a team, but hurts individual awards.  If you go by just stats, you would have only Todd Phillips making a compelling argument. But George runs the team and is as talented as anyone in the ODAC. As for you calling out George Johnson, (A FIRST TEAM ALL ODAC SELECTION AS A SOPHMORE) EMU shot horribly, they couldn't throw it in the ocean, and if you saw the game it wasn't b/c of suffucating defense, they missed shots; open shots. Although you should always give credit to the team who beats you, I'm sure he was caught up in the moment. EMU is hands down the better team. They just werent the better team Sat. Night. George is a competitor and I would bet that he puts on a nice display at the end of Feb. against BC at EMU

[Seatfiller]

I gotta agree with stillfamily i've seen EMU in person atleast 3 times over 2 years and George is a monster especially when they're home, but I got the ODAC POY award going to Sanborn but if Bridgewater can somehow turn it around and get a winning record I think it will go to Trawick

[deanslist]

exodacer,

You said, "I dont think EMU has anyone who could be POY. Fields, Sanborn, Hinson, and Trawick are my top 4 but I dont think the Eagles will finish in the top 4 of the league." So are you saying it is just a two man race between Sanborn and Fields?

I read the article in the Daily News Record too this morning. I understand that BC has won 4 straight over EMU but, I don't see anything wrong with Johnson being confident about the return game at EMU in February. What do you expect him to say, well I think we'll have another poor shooting night and I'm afraid we'll be on the losing end. Plus, you don't really know how the reporter framed the question to Johnson during the interview.

Anyways, even though EMU lost at BC on Saturday the positives I see about the rematch for the Royals are it took a career night by Trawick (36 points) and about 10 points above his average from Jake Johnson (21 points) to win by 6. Plus I don't see the Runnin' Royals shooting that poorly from the 3 point line the rest of the season. In addition, it shows the depth EMU has this season on the offensive end that your First Team All ODAC player from a year ago as sophomore had an off shooting night and only lose by 6 on the road. As an EMU fan and looking at our  basketball history, it is nice to see our guys have confidence. Go EMU!