Jones should be Frosh of the Year

Go to YouTube right now, if it isn’t already in an open window. Type in Verdell Jones. The second video that comes up is only 17 seconds, and it’s worth a look.

It’s Jones, in his younger days as an Illinois middle schooler, making an almost-fullcourt shot to win the 8AA eighth grade tournament championship.

The shot obviously doesn’t tell you much about the skillset Jones possesses, or how he’ll develop as a college basketball player.

But maybe it does a little bit of justice to one fact: Jones is the most versatile player on his team – not his eighth grade team, but his current team.

Moreover, if he produces in the last four games of the season like he’s produced since conference play began, he should be the 2009 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Coming into tonight’s matchup at Northwestern, Jones is averaging 9.8 points, 3.4 assists and three rebounds.

None of those numbers stands out – particularly for a freshman – except when you consider every single one of them goes up in conference play, or that Jones’ 32.1 minutes per game in Big Ten action are tops on his team.

General wisdom was that Tom Pritchard would be IU’s best candidate for that award, but he’s struggled down the stretch without inside help. Other front-runners for the award include Michigan State forward Delvon Roe, Ohio State guard William Buford and Iowa guard Matt Gatens.

Roe only averages 5.5 points per game – that kind of production doesn’t win this award. I like Gatens, but I think Buford and Jones are more appealing because of their versatility and their respective teams’ backstories (right or wrong, that always plays a factor in stuff like this).

There’s been speculation supporting Buford, a consensus five-star prospect out of high school, for freshman of the year.

But I would argue Jones, who has improved remarkably while being asked to run point on a team devoid of experience, has proven himself the better player.

Unlike Buford, who was offered scholarships by Michigan State and Kentucky, Jones was a spring signee whose only other hard offer came from Minnesota.

Jones was thrust into the starting point guard role from day one and looked to be growing well until a head injury against Cornell kept him out of three games in mid-December.

Since that time, he’s hit double digits in points more times than not, showing consistent improvement in decision-making, leadership ability and his now-potent pull-up jumper, which he used effectively against Purdue to the tune of a team-high 16 points.

Crean praised his young guard for his recent offensive improvement but pointed out that Jones needs “to continue to get that same improvement in the defensive area.”

Still, Jones should be in the final conversation for conference freshman of the year, and he’s been better all-around than William Buford. Yes, Buford averages 13.6 points per game to Jones’ 11.1 in conference play, but Jones’ assist numbers are far better, and he’s started more games for his team, despite the concussion.

But most importantly, Jones has spent this entire year only improving while pundits have talked endlessly about how he’s only warming the point guard seat for Jeremiah Rivers and Jordan Hulls next year.

He’s shown remarkable character and resiliency for someone who’s not exactly the strongest guard in the league, and his performance as the season wears on should win him not just Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, but plenty of playing time at a variety of positions next year.

Osterman's prediction: IU 76 – Northwestern 65