It is the year of the freshman in the Big 12.
It’s the subject for tonight’s “On the Mark”. Oklahoma State’s James Anderson, Nebraska’s Cookie Miller, and Texas Tech’s John Roberson are just a few on the long list.
And, Kansas State has a bunch of them… including Michael Beasley who shared the freshman spotlight on Saturday night with Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin. It was an entertaining conference encounter, to say the least. In the last six and a half minutes, Griffin put a trademark move on Beasley to give Oklahoma the lead.
About 20 seconds later, Beasley countered with one of his own to take the lead back.
It continued back and forth.
Griffin ended up with a career high 27 points to go with 14 rebounds, while Beasley scored 32 points to go with 11 rebounds and the game winner. I can hardly wait until the next time those two play against one another --- only --- they may never again.
Unless the two schools meet in the post-season tournament, K-State doesn’t play Oklahoma again, and both players are sure-fire pro prospects. The days when Danny Manning and Stacy King would try out finesse’ one another, when Kirk Hinrich and Hollis Price traded jumpers, when Big O bumped heads with Big Country, are growing extinct. Today’s one and done college basketball athlete has taken the air out of time-tested duels.
That’s too bad for the Big 12.
And, another thing that the N-B-A has taken away from college basketball and its fans. That’s “On the Mark”.