The 25 players to watch going into the college season

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Any sort of preseason All-American selection is always dicey, at best.

Should the weight of the selection come mostly from the side of “college achievement” or of “potential – what you think a guy will do in the coming season”?

I lean toward the “what a guy has already done” with a dash of “what he is likely to do” tossed into the mix.

I’m presenting 25 players, with five from each of the three perimeter positions and 10 in a combined “post” category, since post play is often so interchangeable for most programs – or something like it.

Freshmen aren’t listed, not because I don’t think any of them rate among the 25 players I think will most likely earn post-season AA honors – there are a few in the group – but because I’m going to post a list of the 10 freshmen I think will have the biggest impact this season. Hopefully I can get it to you all by Friday.

Breaking down the 25: There are five from the Big 10 and three each from the ACC and Big East, with 10 coming from “non-BCS” (aka “mid-major”) conferences.

Here you go, with a few comments after each position/category:

 

 

2012-13 ALL-AMERICAN CHECK LIST

POINT GUARDS

Aaron Craft (Ohio State/Jr.)

Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary’s/Sr.)

Trey Burke (Michigan/So.)

Ray McCallum Jr. (Detroit/Jr.)

Peyton Silva (Louisville/Sr.)

Frank Says: The toughest omissions here are Lorenzo Brown (NCSU/Jr.) and Pierre Jackson (Baylor/Sr.)  . . . Look for McCallum to have a tremendous season and maybe be atop this position if I do a post-season Top 25.

 

SHOOTING GUARDS

Isaiah Canaan (Murray State/Sr.)

Nate Wolters (South Dakota State/Sr.)

C.J. McCollum (Lehigh/Sr.)

Michael Snaer (Florida State/Sr.)

Kenny Boynton (Florida/Sr.)

Frank Says: Look at this – the first three come from non-traditional power programs. Pretty cool, huh? It approached painful to leave B.J. Young (Arkansas/So.) off. He’s immensely gifted.

 

WINGS (aka “small forwards”)

Doug McDermott (Creighton/Jr.)

Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State/Jr.)

Jamaal Franklin (San Diego State/Sr.)

Solomon Hill (Arizona/Sr.)

Tim Hardaway Jr. (Michigan/Jr.)

Frank Says: McDermott will be Cody Zeller’s biggest challenge in the national Player of the Year balloting come March . . . Let’s see what Xavier transfer Dezmine Wells (So.) does for Maryland at this position now that he’s been granted instant eligibility by the NCAA.

 

POSTS

Cody Zeller (Indiana/So.)

Tony Mitchell (North Texas/Jr.)

Jeff Withey (Kansas/Sr.)

C.J. Leslie (North Carolina State/Jr.)

James Michael McAdoo (North Carolina/So.)

Chane Behanan (Louisville/So.)

Andre Roberson (Colorado/Jr.)

Otto Porter (Georgetown/So.)

Mike Moser (UNLV/Jr.)

Elias Harris (Gonzaga/Sr.)

Frank Says: Lots of quality here, with the aforementioned Zeller a co-favorite, at worst, for national POY honors . . . It was very tough leaving a third Louisville player off this group of 25 – center Gorgui Dieng is that fellow.