Newest SI rates Nichols best in Big East

With the preseason hype surrounding Paul Harris and the perennial disappointing performances by he and fellow classmates, you can't blame people for overlooking Demetris Nichols heading in to the 2007 season. Behind torrid three point shooting in the Orange's first 19 games, Nichols has emerged as the Big East's top scorer. Most of his damage has come from beyond the arc, but his more aggressive play has also led to improved production in the paint. His free throw percentage has also improved to nearly 90%. In this week's Sports Illustrated, Nichols receives attention for his superlative efforts. Under "Three-Pointer" in the College Basketball section, the magazine said the following:

"Demetris Nichols is the best player in the Big East. Syracuse's 6'8'' senior forward was leading the league in scoring (18.9 points a game) through Sunday and was fourth in three-point shooting (47.1%) and 11th in blocks (1.39)."

That's pretty high praise considering the Big East features All-American candidate Aaron Gray of Pitt. Nichols has always possessed a tremendous shot, but was often gun shy in his first three years. He's playing with more confidence this year as the "go-to" guy. His impact on defense can not be underestimated. Along with Terrence Roberts and Daryl Watkins, the length in the back-line of Syracuse's 2-3 zone has caused fits for opponents. Boeheim has also long praised his man to man defense, citing his quickness to stay with guards and size to defend the bigs. With last night's game in the balance, Nichols drew the assignment of containing the hot shooting Marcus Sikes. When Syracuse goes to man, it is usually Nichols in charge of shutting down their top scorer. If he can avoid the scoring lapses that have plagued his career, Nichols should develop in to a lethal scoring option.

Also featured in this week's Sports Illustrated is blue-chip recruit Donte Greene. Greene comes from the same Baltimore area high school, Towson Catholic, that produced former star Carmelo Anthony. He grew up playing on Anthony's Team Melo AAU squad and considers himself a friend to the Nuggets star. His athleticism from the wing has earned him favorable comparisons to his predecessor at Towson Catholic. It was just announced that he, along with fellow 2007 recruit Johnny Flynn, was named to the 2007 USA Basketball Junior Select team. A few weeks ago the magazine focused it's high school sports section on two other recruits for next season Antonio (Scoop) Jardine and Rick Jackson. The two are teammates at Neuman-Goretti, a Philadelphia area high school. Flynn, Greene, Jardine, and Jackson form one of the nation's top recruiting classes for next season.