by xusandy » Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:22 am
As revealed by the various posts in this thread, the reality this year is that there are about a dozen BEAST players you just can't go wrong with in putting together an all-star team to compete with the best players in other leagues. I'd happily play any combo of Ochefu, Fisher, Farr, or Bentil up front, plus Hart, Ellenson, or Blueitt on the wings, and Dunn, Sumner, Whitehead, Arcidiacano, or Smith-Rivera in the backcourt. That's a solid dozen, but OMG I left Bridges, Dunham, and R. Jones off my list, plus probably one or two others who don't occur immediately to me, so make it 16-20 great players around the league. And a lot of those guys will be back next year too, plus several highly touted recruits known to be coming in! How quickly the talent has risen since our new league line-up came together!
I don't know who among all these players (other than POY Dunn of course), will be voted first team all-league at the end of the season, but the best sixth man should be James Farr; he doesn't even start for X.
I keep saying it, but I'll say it again: this league offers a truly UNIQUE combo of good academics, a strong "values" orientation at member schools (I'd say "a Catholic identity"" except for Butler), a strong national TV presence, and no football team to overshadow GREAT bball. All that makes for one heckuva strong recruiting message to prospective players -- and to their parents, most of whom do strongly influence their high school superstar's college choice. So over time, I expect the BEAST to get even more beastly that it has already become.