Cleanthony Early - All American

[ShockTalk]

Cle would not have been as good had FVV not been on his team. FVV made EVERYBODY else on the team better, and he's still doing it in the NBA with a championship ring to show for it. Making others better instead of trying to pump your own stats is a decent way to make a living playing basketball.

Too bad we had a couple of players last year who hadn't learned that. FVV never had the kind of eye-popping stats some players think they need to go to the next level.

While I don't disagree, I do believe that Cle made the team better as well. So that goes both ways. Each had their role.

Cle was also a "big game player". Both had an impact on the F4 run, but Cle had more than Fred.

[ShockerWalkon]

That FVV has taken over this Cle thread is all the proof needed to hang his jersey.

[Dan]

The only thing keeping Fred out of the rafters is the athletic department. I’d love to see a banner commemorating our undefeated season. It’s rarified air in college b-ball.

[WstateU]

It’s all a ‘farce’ until they put my good buddy Ross McBurney up there. See ShockTalk post #29. He should have been the first. SMH for the hundredth time.

[JVShocker]

The Playboy list was considered as a quality standard at that time.

Kids today= What's Playboy?

Kids then= YEAH! PLAYBOY!

Kids today= Do you mean Play boi?

Kids then= No. That ain't it.

Kids today= This was a high school thing? Covering high school sports in general like the local VYPE publlication?

Kids then= No. That ain't it. (now with a wink and big smile on face)

Kids today= I still don't get it.

Kids then= Google it.

[JVShocker]

The only thing keeping Fred out of the rafters is the athletic department. I’d love to see a banner commemorating our undefeated season. It’s rarified air in college b-ball.

#Makeithappen

[JVShocker]

FROSH: As a freshman, VanVleet contributed double digit scoring twice (versus Gonzaga and Ohio State) in the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament from off the bench as the 2012–13 Shockers team reached the final four.^[12] Against Gonzaga, his 13 points^[13] included a basket with 1:28 remaining that helped the Shockers secure only the fifth sweet sixteen appearance by a number 9 seed since the tournament went to 64 teams in 1985.^[14][15] His 12 points against Ohio State included a late basket that helped the Shockers become the fifth team with a seeding higher than eight to make it to the final four since 1979 when seeding began.^[16]



SOPH: On January 23, 2014, he was selected to the 23-man Oscar Robertson Award midseason watchlist by the United States Basketball Writers Association.^[20] On February 13, he was named one of the 30 finalists for Naismith College Player of the Year.^[21] On February 17, Vanvleet was selected as one of 23 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award.^[22] When the Rockford native returned to the Chicago metropolitan area on February 19 to lead Wichita State against Loyola, he went 6-for-6 from the field and 10-for-10 on his free throw attempts for a game-high 22 points and added 8 rebounds and 6 assists to help Wichita State raise its record to 28–0.^[23] On February 28, he was named one of the 10 semi-finalists for the Naismith Award.^[24] VanVleet helped lead the 2013–14 team to the first 31–0 regular season in NCAA Division I men's basketball history.


JR: VanVleet was Preseason All-American first team selection by USA Today,^[38]Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook,^[39]Bleacher Report,^[40]CBSSports.com,^[41]Sports Illustrated,^[42] and Associated Press.^[43] He was a second team selection by Athlon Sports,^[44]SB Nation,^[45] and NBCSports.com.^[46] In its preseason top 100 player ranking, VanVleet was listed at number 5 by ESPN.^[47] VanVleet was named to the 36-man Bob Cousy Award Preseason Watch List.^[48] He was also listed as a John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 candidate and an Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List selection.^[49][50] VanVleet was also included in the early December Naismith Award top 50 watch list.^[51] VanVleet posted the first triple double for Wichita State Shockers men's basketball in 43 years with a 10-point 10-rebound 11-assist 4-steal performance against Missouri State.^[60) 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament for the Shockers, VanVleet matched a career high with 27 points against Indiana.^[65] He finished the tournament with 17-point and 25-point performances against #2-seeded Kansas and #3-seeded Notre Dame, respectively.^[



SR: VanVleet was a selection to the 20-man Bob Cousy Award preseason watchlist,^[70] and the 30-man Lute Olson Award preseason watchlist.^[71] He was a second team selection to the Sporting News, Sports Illustrated and Athlon Sports preseason All-American teams.^[72][73][74] He was a third team selection to the CBS Sports, USA Today and NBC Sports preseason All-American teams.^[75][76][77]Lindy's Sports did not name an All-America team, but did rank all college basketball players by position and presented a top 25 list at each position. It included VanVleet as its second best point guard.^[78] In preseason top 100 player rankings, VanVleet was ranked 14 by ESPN and 17 by NBC Sports.^[79][80] He made the initial 50-man John R. Wooden Award watch list on November 17.^[81] On December 2, VanVleet earned recognition on the 50-man Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist^[82] and 33-man Robertson Trophy watchlists. He was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for the Naismith Trophy on February 11.^[96] VanVleet was included in the Wooden Award Late season Top 20 Watch List on February 12.^[97
[83] The season began and VanVleet had been dealing with hamstring issues when he rolled his right ankle, because of this he saw no more than three minutes of playing time in the season opener against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers on November 13.^[84] Though he played in the next game against Tulsa, it aggravated his hamstring enough that he was expected to miss the following few games.^[85] Without a healthy VanVleet, Wichita State fell to two games under .500 for the first time since its 2008–09 team as well as endured, not only its first three-game losing streak since having VanVleet come off the bench for the 2012–13 team, but also its worst start to a season (2–4) since the 2007–08 team.^[86][87] VanVleet returned to the lineup on December 5 against St. Louis to bring the consecutive losses to an end.^[88) On March 17, VanVleet and Baker led 11-seed Wichita State to another Sweet 16 and a victory over 6-seed and AP Poll 17th-ranked Arizona.^[99] VanVleet posted a game-high 16 points, 5 steals, and 4 rebounds.^[100] With four steals in his final career game on March 19 against Miami, VanVleet brought his career total to 225, setting a school career record.^[101]

And now....after getting a vote for NBA Finals MVP....




In summary....this is good.....but.....



#WSUWECANDOBETTER

[Ashockalypse]

And yes, to this point in time, All American has been the standard for a retired jersey.

And because of East Coast and p5 bias we never retire a Jersey. Btw Stallworth, X and Fred are the only ones that can claim best Shocker with X having the upper hand. Just go back and watch games of X. Full game domination with not as great a support staff.

[another shocker]

actually, cliff levingston was a playboy preseason all-american and a street&smith's preseason 1st team all-american before his junior year after averaging 18ppg and 10rpg as a sophomore.

fvv and/or armstrong/jabali probably belong up in those rafters.

[ShockTalk]

I'm not sure of the highjacking of this thread by JVShocker and others. That would have been an absolutely great post JVShocker in a FVV thread. No one disputes that Fred's jersey will be in the rafters and his value to the program. My posts all relate to who (specifically Cle since it's a thread about him) should have their jersey hung. I simply based it on what WSU has done so far in that regards.

IMHO, it would be a bad look to not have Cle's jersey hung with Fred's. Just how many Consensus All-Americans have we had? He's certainly more deserving than Cliff.

[Topshock]

And because of East Coast and p5 bias we never retire a Jersey. Btw Stallworth, X and Fred are the only ones that can claim best Shocker with X having the upper hand. Just go back and watch games of X. Full game domination with not as great a support staff.

Don't need to saw them all live and agree, X was once in a lifetime.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

There were many reasons we went to the F4 in 2013 and had an undefeated season in 2014, but for my money the main reason was Cle.

And everyone chill out about Fred. Sheesh. His number will hang. Patience! There's usually a waiting period for such things, and I do believe we are approaching the end of that.

[proshox]

Cleanthony had a crazy amount of “gravity.” Somewhere there is an article which quantified the amount of attention he received by opponents and there hasn’t been a shocker like him in my 25 years of watching.

During his junior season he was the most prolific back to the basket scorer in the country. I doubt many people realize that.

During his senior season when “off the ball” he was guarded by 1.5 players. Wherever he went he pulled the defense away from his teammates. This made life easy on the other four. Once he had the ball the opposing teams fully committed to stopping him.

He was an absolute beast. The top teams always have a dynamic four. To me Dynamic 4’s are the players that separate the cream of the crop from the contenders in most seasons.

one last point - it appears to me that Cleanthony needed Fred. Fred was an Alfa Dog Cleanthony would follow. Last season’s TBD was a reminder of how gifted Early was, but it was also a glimpse of what Fred “managed.”

[AZ Shocker]

Cle was simply Money. So wished we had him for 4 years...and I still can't believe how we haven't been able to land another Cle all these years after the Final Four run. Maybe he was just that exceptional...

[ShockTalk]

Cleanthony had a crazy amount of “gravity.” Somewhere there is an article which quantified the amount of attention he received by opponents and there hasn’t been a shocker like him in my 25 years of watching.

During his junior season he was the most prolific back to the basket scorer in the country. I doubt many people realize that.

During his senior season when “off the ball” he was guarded by 1.5 players. Wherever he went he pulled the defense away from his teammates. This made life easy on the other four. Once he had the ball the opposing teams fully committed to stopping him.

He was an absolute beast. The top teams always have a dynamic four. To me Dynamic 4’s are the players that separate the cream of the crop from the contenders in most seasons.

one last point - it appears to me that Cleanthony needed Fred. Fred was an Alfa Dog Cleanthony would follow. Last season’s TBD was a reminder of how gifted Early was, but it was also a glimpse of what Fred “managed.”

One would normally expect that the "attention" Cle drew from opposing teams would be even more evident against better teams as they would normally have the athletic player (or two) that could keep him in check.

However, it is these times Cle stood out the most. The following is Early's line against Louisville, Ohio St, Gonzaga, and Pitt in the 2013 NCAA and Kentucky in the 2014 NCAA.

38-66 FG (.576), 16-19 FT (.842), 104 points (20.8 ppg), 38 rebounds (7.6 pg), only 4 TOs, 7 blocks, and 4 steals.