MSU's Rhodes And Gordon Tabbed By SEC Basketball Coaches
A former standout at Jackson's Lanier High School, Rhodes enters this week's SEC Tournament ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring (13.9 ppg), eighth in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and third in field-goal percentage (56.7%) for all games. Having averaged 16.9 points and 8.5 rebounds over his last 17 outings, Rhodes concluded regular-season conference action ranked fifth in the SEC in both scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg) for league games only, in addition to standing third in field-goal percentage (58.4%) and tied for eighth in blocks (1.4 bpg) against league competition.
In becoming Mississippi State's first underclassman since then-sophomore Mario Austin (2001-02) to garner all-conference honors, Rhodes has posted four double-doubles this season, but has just missed recording six other double-doubles by a single rebound each time and three others by two boards apiece. The second-year standout begins postseason play having scored in double figures 17 consecutive games, as well as having completed the regular season by hitting 50 percent or better from the field in 13 of 16 league outings.
Joining fellow league rookie standouts Tyrus Thomas and Tasmin Mitchell of SEC Champion LSU, along with Alabama's Richard Hendrix as unanimous selections to this year's eight-man SEC All-Freshman Team, Gordon this week was also named to CollegeInsider.com's 25-man Freshmen All-America Team. Entering Thursday's first-round SEC Tournament contest against South Carolina needing just two assists to break Rich Knarr's freshman season school record of 127 assists set in 1972-73, Gordon stands 12th among the SEC's overall scoring leaders (13.9 ppg), ninth in rebounding (6.6 rpg), sixth in assists (4.3 apg) and 10th in minutes played (32.9 mpg) for all games.
Heading back to his hometown of Nashville for this week's SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, Gordon begins postseason play ranked 11th nationally among the NCAA's top freshmen scorers, 15th in rebounding, 13th in assists and 17th in minutes played. The former second-team PARADE All-American joins Louisiana-Lafayette senior Dwayne Mitchell as the only two players in NCAA Division I men's basketball currently averaging at least 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest on the year.