College All-Stars

Freshman hazing might be a phrase soon lost on the current generation of college basketball stars. Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Kevin Love, and OJ Mayo established a new rule book for college basketball. Degree planning has become an afterthought for the star college basketball player. But if the current influx of freshman superstars is going to rid us of anything, my vote is for the NCAA Senior Dunk Contest and Three Point Shootout. Watching Andre Emmet win a dunk contest was a low point in my life. Senior college players are somewhat of a rarity in the current climate of college basketball. Even more rare is a senior with athletic ability worthy of drawing a crowd.
Rather, the NCAA should create an event featuring college stars from the top six conferences. The event should resemble the NBA All-Star Weekend, condensed into one day. The top six RPI conferences are included. This would create the opportunity for mid-majors to be represented. Each conference sends a dunker, a shooter, and a five-man team. The hosting conference chooses a band and set of cheerleaders to entertain at the event and sells tickets.
Luckily, the SEC just moved into 6th place of the Conference RPI so I was able to speculate from this year’s players who would be sent from each conference.
Dunkers

• ACC: Trevor Booker
• Big East: Sam Young
• Big Ten: Marcus Landry
• Big 12: Blake Griffin
• Pac 10: Demar DeRozan
• SEC: Senario Hillman

DeRozan gets the nod for youtube videos, alone. No one other than Pac 10 students have seen him play in a real game, but everyone wants to see what Gerald Green With a Freshman Year of Education can do in a dunk contest.
The Big Ten gives us Marcus Landry, but no one is happy about it. If there is a better choice, even Landry would appreciate being replaced.
Senario Hillman represents the SEC based on name alone. He beats out some athletes from LSU and teammate Alonzo Gee. Hillman stands at only 6 feet tall, but gets high and hangs in the air well.
There are plenty of big time dunkers in the Big 12 this year, and since so close in name, the committee would look away if Landry was to be replaced by a second dunker from the Big 12 due to injury. Teammates Willie Warren and Juan Patillo may both be better dunkers than Griffin. Damion James would also be fun to watch. But Griffin gets the chance to improve on his soon to be award studded sophomore year.
Terrence Williams could have just as easily replaced Sam Young as the Big East’s best dunker, but the senior gets his chance to shine in the 5 on 5 game where he can showcase his skill set to some NBA scouts. Sam Young is as explosive of a player as there is in the Big East. Though Billy Packer said it best, “He’s an acrobat.”
Good choices in the ACC, as well. Gerald Henderson and Trevor Booker are the top two athletic dunkers in the conference. Both are also two of the top players overall in the conference, but Booker has had better dunks this season and gets the invitation. It’s a bonus that he likes to dunk on Dukies.

Three-Point Contest

• ACC: Jack McClinton
• Big East: Kyle McAlarney
• Big Ten: Craig Moore
• Big 12: AJ Abrams
• SEC: Jodie Meeks
• Pac 10: Rihards Kuksiks

Each of these guys has somewhat distinguished himself from the other great shooters in their respective conferences. They all shoot above 40% and have completely gone off at points this season. Meeks and McAlarney are the favorites, but in this setting McAlarney might have an edge. McAlarney seems to shoot from the corners a lot more as a spot up shooter. Meeks often needs that rhythm dribble or to make a violent cut before he starts to fill it up.
Though, one would have to admit the three-point contest doesn’t seem fulfilling without Stephon Curry. But this fantasy event will not make compromises for mid-major conference players.

Five v. Five

• ACC: Jeff Teague, Tyrese Rice, Gerald Henderson, Tyler Hansbrough, Trevor Booker
• Big East: Jonny Flynn, Jerel McNeal, Terrence Williams, Luke Harangody, DaJuan Blair
• Big Ten: Talor Battle, Robbie Hummel, Manny Harris, Kevin Coble, Evan Turner
• Big 12: Sherron Collins, James Anderson, Damion James, Blake Griffin, Craig Brackins
• Pac 10: Jerome Randel, James Harden, Chase Budinger, Jon Brockman, Jordan Hill
• SEC: Nick Calethes, Jodie Meeks, Tyler Smith, Patrick Patterson, Jarvis Varnado

The 5 v. 5 tournament is admittedly the most ambitious idea in this projected fantasy event. The games would have to be played like a pickup game of basketball. Pickup basketball, Chris, is basketball without free throws, inbounds plays, or time keeping. The teams would play to 11. Seeding would be based upon conference RPI. Money is on the Big 12 or ACC.

The format would set up with the 5 v. 5 tournament getting under way in the early afternoon. The championship, however, is saved until after the Dunk Contest.
The Three-Point Contest begins in the early evening. The first round eliminates three shooters. The second decides the champion. (That is until Stephon Curry parachutes in to challenge McAlarney.)
The Dunk Contest works the same way – two rounds to decide the winner. Each player gets two dunks per round, scored on a scale of 100. (I’ve always had a problem with a scale of 50 because there isn’t enough distinction in scores.)
The night concludes with the championship game. There will be a much greater potential to see classic individual match-ups. Hansbrough, Griffin, Blair, Harangody. These are the type of match-ups that create the marketing campaign for the NBA regular season. It would be fun, draw a crowd, but still have an edge of excitement. With the players are representing their respective conferences, the competition between teams and players would make for a really exciting event.