The honors and acclaims keep pouring in. This time from BASKETBALL PROSPECTUS
D-I’s Top 100 Players
by Drew Cannon
56. C.J. McCollum, Lehigh (Jr., SG)
No returning player in the country took on a bigger per-possession load than McCollum in 2011, and he did it while maintaining a perfectly respectable offensive rating of 103. He actually didn’t shoot particularly well (44 percent on twos, 32 percent on threes), but he racked up more assists than turnovers and hit 85 percent of his 233 free throws. On the other end of the floor he ranked in the top 40 nationally in steal percentage and, despite being 6-3 and 165 (!), grabbed 19 percent of available defensive rebounds. I don’t know that he had a higher defensive rebounding percentage than anyone else his weight in the country, but nobody in the Kenpom top 100 in the statistic weighed less than 190, and McCollum ranks No. 256. Four of Lehigh’s 2011 starters were underclassmen, and the Mountain Hawks nearly ranked second in the Patriot League in Pomeroy rating despite their final 6-8 conference record. If Lehigh can challenge what should be a very good Bucknell team, McCollum will start getting national ink. Hopefully, he will even if they don’t.