For the fourth week this season, Justin Drummond, Freshman Guard, has been honored as being named MAAC Player of the Week. The call was announced earlier this week from the conference. But why has this happened? Clearly, Drummond is doing something spectacular that the entire league is willingly to give him recognition but what is it?
It’s really simple if you have been following the Greyhounds all season. This Kid can play. Drummond has been on top of his game both offensively and defensively. He is averaging 9.8 points per game play about 16 minutes a game. He scored a season high against #15 Georgetown by putting up 21 points. In the past three weeks, Drummond has been producing 14.7 points per gameHe rebounds about 2.8 per game. He has been shooting 56.7% from the field and 60% from behind the three point arc. He has been utilized well by Patsos.
What makes it even more remarkable is that Drummond has not played every single game on the Greyhounds schedule. At the beginning of the season, Drummond was not used due to medical reasons, whereas J’hared Hall took up a lot of the playing time that has been given to Drummond lately. Loyola has been better for it as well. Loyola was 3-5 in their first 8 games of the season. Once they began to use Drummond in the Mount Saint Mary’s game, the Greyhounds have been on a 10-7 run, easily playing above 500 which has placed them 5th in the MAAC thus far.
But how does this play into the overall look of the team? With Drummond receiving honors for being rookie of the week, this has shown how much he truly means to this team. The team has been playing better and the flow and chemistry that I had been talking about all season has been there and working for the Greyhounds. Drummond has clearly made players better. For instance look at how well Shane Walker has been playing. He has been averaging 11.1 points per game now with 7.4 rebounds. Drummond has taken off some of the pressure on the big guys, allowing other players to step up and get some offense going. Erik Etherly has been able to put up 10.1 points per game with 7.7 rebounds. Brian Rudolph, who has now become the main point guard for the Greyhounds, has a new asset to pass to averaging 4.3 assists per game. Overall, Drummond’s playing has allowed for more distribution and more even playing field for the court. Stress and Pressure has been redirected and is allowing some other players to pick up and become amazing. Drummond is not the LeBron James of the Greyhounds, but he is clearly doing something that LeBron James does very well with the Miami Heat and that is make everyone around him better.
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