Craig, Olumuyiwa Rank Among Nation's Best
12/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Freshmen Torrey Craig (Rock Hill, S.C./Great Falls HS) and Babatunde Olumuyiwa (Athens, Ga./Clarke Central HS) have combined to win three of the four Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Week awards this season and the Spartan duo find themselves at the top of the national rankings.
With his nine blocks at South Carolina (11/23), Olumuyiwa is tied for third in blocked shots in a single game this season. William Mosley of Northwestern State and Ty Walker of Wake Forest have each recorded 11 this season. Joining Olumuyiwa with nine blocks are D.J. Covington of VMI and Aaric Murray of La Salle.
His nine blocks set an Upstate record and he became just the sixth player in A-Sun history to record nine blocks in a single-game.
Olumuyiwa is tied for sixth in the nation with 3.5 blocks per game. He is tied with St. Joseph's C. J. Aiken, Louisville's Terrence Jennings and Arkansas' Delvon Johnson. Ahead of Olumuyiwa are William Mosley (Northwestern State – 4.9), Ty Walker (Wake Forest – 4.5), Jamelle Hagins (Delaware – 3.8), Damian Eargle (Youngstown State – 3.7) and Keith Benson (Oakland – 3.6).
In freshmen only rankings, Olumuyiwa is tied for first with D. J. Covington of VMI with nine blocks in a single game, while sitting tied for first with C.J. Aiken of St. Joseph's with 3.5 blocks per game.
Meanwhile Craig finds his name near the top of two statistical categories (freshmen only). Craig is averaging 7.3 rpg, placing him 12th among all freshmen in the nation.
In rebounds in a single game, Craig is tied for third and ninth among freshmen. His 15 rebounds against ETSU tie him with Baye Moussa Keita (Syracuse), Travis McKie (Wake Forest), Augustine Rubit (South Alabama), TrayVonn Wright (North Dakota State) and Will Yeguete (Florida).
Prior to his 15 rebound performance against the Bucs, Craig grabbed 14 against UNC Asheville placing him in a tie for ninth with Devonte Elliott (Nevada), Calvin Godfrey (Iowa State), Jerome Hunter (Alabama A&M), Augustine Rubit (South Alabama), Mamadou Seck (Southern Illinois) and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State).
The only names ahead of Craig's are Kyle Cain (Arizona State – 17) and Terrence Jones (Kentucky – 17).
Craig is just one of two freshmen to record 14 or more rebounds twice this season. He joins Augustine Rubit of South Alabama as the only two to accomplish the feat. Craig had 14 against UNC Asheville, while Rubit had 15 against Spring Hill (11/12) and 14 at Louisville (12/4).
Upstate will return the court on Saturday at NC State. Tip-off inside historic Reynolds Coliseum is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
