The BIG EAST’s All-Glue Guys
By Sean Brennan
Special to BIGEAST.com
By now you are more than a little familiar with the stars of the BIG EAST.
Seton Hall’s Myles Powell and Marquette’s Markus Howard are known coast to coast. The Xavier tandem of Naji Marshall and Paul Scruggs are known to keep opposing coaches up nights. Ditto guards Marcus Zegarowski and Ty-Shon Alexander at Creighton. Georgetown’s Mac McClung is a walking highlight package while DePaul’s Paul Reed has emerged as Mr. Double-Double.
Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott have Butler sitting at No. 5 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll while Collin Gillespie and Saddiq Bey have led Villanova to the 14th spot. Alpha Diallo remains a force for the Friars and L.J Figueroa is enjoying another solid season at St. John’s.
But for every Powell and Howard, there is a Bryce Nze. For every Marshall, Alexander and McClung, there’s a Mitch Ballock, Romeo Weems or Sacar Anim. And for every Baldwin, Reed or Figueroa, there is a Jagan Mosely, David Duke or Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
They may not be the first name you think of when you mention their team. They may currently be a tad more “Off-Broadway” than Broadway. And they may not garner the headlines of their more “brand-name” teammates. But without the contributions of these unsung heroes of the BIG EAST, life would be considerably tougher for the Powells and Howards of the basketball world.
They are the BIG EAST’s All-Glue Guy Team, and if you don’t believe how important they are to the 10 programs in the league, then why couldn’t Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing contain himself when asked who his glue guy was?
“Jagan Mosely,” Ewing answered before the question was even finished being asked. “He does everything for us. He defends the best wing, he rebounds, he makes the right plays in terms of getting the ball to the right people. Without him right now, with our depleted lineup, if we were to lose him we would not be as good as we are. Without him we can’t win. He’s the glue that keeps us together.”
There are glue guys on every team in the league. Some have been BIG EAST members for several seasons but one first-year player is making quite the mark for himself at Butler. Meet Bryce Nze.
“I think he’s kind of changed the dynamic of our team with his individual ability, both offensively and defensively,” said Butler senior marksman Sean McDermott. “I think he’s one of the key reasons why everything has come together for us so far to this point. He’s just so versatile on both ends of the court. On defense, he can guard a couple of different positions and offensively he can do so many different things. And he’s so unselfish. He doesn’t care about getting his stats. He’s just out there to help us win.”
Nze is currently sixth in the conference in rebounding at 7.1 per game while contributing almost 10 points a game in his first season with the Bulldogs.
David Duke fits the description at Providence. The sophomore guard is averaging 12 points, tying him for 20th in the conference, and his 3.8 assists per game are good for eighth in the league. But there’s more to his game than simple numbers.
“I think he’s one of the better defensive players in our league,” Providence head coach Ed Cooley said. “I think his size, his toughness and his athleticism poses problems on both sides of the ball. But more importantly, it’s his confidence and his work ethic. He’s the hardest working kid I’ve ever coached and I’m really proud of his development. And I think he’s got two or three more levels left in him. His work ethic is just something to be seen.”
Much like Ewing, Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski had a rapid-fire response to who his guy would be. Senior Sacar Anim.
“Sacar has been a guy who has had a more old-school, traditional basketball development route,” Wojo said. “I believe he is a very good player but he would fit the mold of a glue guy in terms of doing whatever it takes, defensively and offensively, to help his team be in a position to win a game. I think Sacar has been that guy for us for a number of years and certainly his role has increased now that he’s a senior. But he still does a lot of the things that go unnoticed.”
Wojo pointed to the Golden Eagles’ recent victory over Villanova where Anim’s latest major contribution came perhaps under the radar.
“We were struggling to score and stop a run against Villanova and he had two huge baskets in probably the most pressure-packed part of the game where people would traditionally think that would be Markus making those shots,” Wojo said. “Sacar hit two huge buckets for us. That would be the latest example, one of many.”
Creighton assistant coach Paul Lusk provided a trio of Bluejay names that he feels fit nicely into that underappreciated category.
“Mitch Ballock gets talked about a lot,” Lusk said. “But he’s a guy that just wants to win and do all the little things. Obviously his shooting ability gets talked about but there are games where he won’t take as many shots and he’ll make the extra pass, the extra assist. I also think Damien Jefferson has done a really good job. He went through the injury last year (ankle surgery) and it seems like he’s finally getting back to full health. He does a lot of the little things. And I think Christian Bishop, too. As much as (Marcus) Zegarowski, Ty-Shon (Alexander) and Mitch get talked about, Christian also does a lot of the little things. Those three guys right there, they’re willing to do whatever they need to do to win. They do things that don’t show up in the newspaper or in the stats, but they’re helping you win games.
Ballock is third in scoring for the Bluejays at 12.6 points a game with a team-best 51 threes. Bishop averages nine points and is the Bluejays’ second leading rebounder with 5.9 a game while Jefferson is averaging 8.4 points and is fourth in rebounding with 5.3 boards per outing.
And while Seton Hall can point to sophomore Jared Rhoden, the Pirates’ fourth leading scorer at 8.4 points a game, who is also second in steals (23) and tops in rebounding (6.1) as their glue guy, another sophomore, Josh Roberts, and his team-leading totals in blocks (33) and rebounds (7.0) could represent St. John’s.
At Xavier, Jason Carter would be the pick. The first-year Musketeer (he’s a transfer from Ohio University) is second in blocks (17), third in rebounds (5.2), fourth in both points (7.2) and assists (30) and fifth in steals (12) for Travis Steele’s team. Sort of Xavier’s version of a Swiss Army knife.
But both Villanova and DePaul went younger for their glue, choosing freshmen as the players they point to as making a difference doing the dirty work.
“Without question, and it’s strange to say because it’s just a few games into his career, but it’s Romeo Weems,” DePaul head coach Dave Leitao said. “He’s doesn’t get the notoriety that Paul (Reed) or Charlie (Moore) get. But he’s guarded every single best player on the opposing team and he’s done a fantastic job at it. He’s fit in nicely in our offense and he’s grown in his position. He takes care of the ball, he takes the ball out of bounds in pressure situations, he rebounds for us, he moves the ball very well and he has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. So all the things that, when you watch on TV people talk a lot about, is something Romeo does.
Villanova head coach Jay Wright also looked at one of his newcomers as his All-Glue guy.
“There are so many outstanding players that make your team win and I think on our team Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Even though he gets some attention because he’s a highly-touted freshman, it’s because of what he does defensively and rebounding-wise.”
Wight points to a recent victory at Creighton as the latest evidence of Robinson-Earl’s contributions to the Cats.
“In our game against Creighton, he guarded everyone on the perimeter and he got 14 rebounds,” Wright said. “But at the end of the game, crucial possession, we miss a three and he gets an offensive rebound to really seal the game. Those kinds of little things he does night in and night out.”
That’s what glue guys do.