“He’s awesome baby with a capital ‘A’!”
It’s phrases like these that have made Dick Vitale one of the most recognizable figures in college basketball. When it comes to the intercollegiate game, Vitale is Mr. Know-It-All. If your life depended on passing an exam based on college basketball, you would want him as your professor. As a former college basketball coach turned color commentator for ESPN, words spoken by Vitale are viewed by many as the gospel of the game.
Well, that’s what I used to believe until I watched a recent game between Duke and Wake Forest.
Vitale referred to Duke shooting guard J.J. Redick as the best shooter in the nation.
What?!
Someone needs to fill Vitale in. That title belongs to FAMU’s own shooting phenom Terrence Woods?
Woods is the reigning NCAA Division One 3-point shooting champion and has not slacked off one bit this season. As of Monday he leads the NCAA in 3-point attempts with 187 and has converted the most, knocking down 74. Those stats put his shooting percentage from behind the arc at 39 percent.
Not to take anything away from Redick, but his numbers just don’t add up to Woods’. As of Monday , Redick is shooting 55-126 from 3-point range. Unless the order of numerals has changed significantly, 55 is not more than 74.
Vitale’s views are not uncommon or surprising. Duke has a storied history of national championships and legendary Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski is one of the best college coaches of all time. Teams like Duke get all the recognition while less publicized teams and conferences such as the MEAC get little to no attention at all.
I have always been a Vitale fan and listened to everything that he has to say, but he needs to know the facts and stats of the best players in the land. Even if they don’t play for one of the more popular teams in America.
Contact Lemont Calloway at la_calloway@hotmail.com.