Ever since the NBA adopted the one-and-done rule, the college game has seen more than its share of impact freshmen. You know, the players that spend a year or two on campus before heading to the draft lottery and, eventually, signing those massive contracts that have put the NBA’s 2011-2012 season in jeopardy and make it a worthwhile investment for an agent to throw hundreds or thousands of dollars and the country’s best eighth-graders.
This year is no different. Andre Drummond put UConn right back into the national title discussion. Austin Rivers has Duke fans expecting to see the junior year version of Jay Williams back at Cameron Indoor. Baylor’s Quincy Miller has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant, Oklahoma State’s LeBryan Nash will make it a habit of showing up on Sportscenter’s top ten, and Memphis once again landed their most talented native son in Adonis Thomas.
And I heard that Calipari guy might have a sleeper or two at Kentucky this season.
One guy that hasn’t had much hype heading into the season is Tony Wroten, the flashy point guard that Lorenzo Romar brought in to replace Isaiah Thomas. That all changed, however, when Romar decided to compare Wroten to Magic Johnson.
“I’m not going to tell you right now he’s going to be a 14-year NBA all-star and first five of the all-time greatest player (and) he is Magic Johnson. I’m not going to tell you that. He has the potential of be a great basketball player,” Romar told KJR-AM, a radio station in Seattle. “I just know that he has that size to where he can look over the defense. Magic was 6-9 and Tony is right at 6-5. Sometimes guys see things, but they see it a second late. He sees things right as they are developing and he delivers the ball on the spot. And he can do that while going full speed. And those are things that Magic was able to do.”
“Our guys are still learning how to adjust to catching his passes because he’s the type of passes that passes you the ball when you don’t know you’re open.”
I get it. Wroten can do some of the things that Magic was able to do. But Magic would also be a starter for any non-Celtic fan that put together an all-time starting five of basketball players. Wroten was ranked 16th in the Class of 2011.
That said, Wroten’s playmaking ability should be a major factor for the Huskies this season. Washington was at their best last season when they allowed Isaiah Thomas to take control of the team, and while Wroten is still a long way from that kind of responsibility, he’s an important piece.
Waxing on about Wroten wasn’t the point of this post, however.
The point was that Andrew Sharp of SB Nation has given us our first GREAT nickname for the 2011-2012 season: Tony Wroten is ... Murder T Wrote.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.