Meet College Basketball's All-Lightning Rod Team in 2015-16 Season

Lightning is not a good thing. It is also not a bad thing. Lightning is neutral. It is literally a bolt from the blue (or the gray, depending on atmospheric conditions). But despite that neutrality, it is enormously powerful, and it attracts fascination, fear, wonder and mistrust wherever it may strike.

Lightning rods are even more neutral than lightning. They don't even "attract" lightning, per conventional wisdom. They just sort of offer the lightning an alternative landing platform away from, say, a building. 

I lost my train of thought. Right, so, that concludes the science portion of this slideshow. I think what I really want to say is that the five players I am about to introduce as part of our annual All-Lightning Rod Team are not necessarily "good" or "bad."

As you will see, a case can be made each way. What lands them on this particular patch of ground is their ability to elicit emotions, positive and negative, home and away, overachieve or under, for various reasons.

The lightning itself is neutral. The reactions it evokes are not. Herewith, then, is college basketball's All-Lightning Rod Team for the 2015-16 season.

Point Guard: Yogi Ferrell, Indiana

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Why we love him

Plenty of IU fans cheered when Yogi Ferrell decided to forego the NBA for his senior season in Bloomington. By all accounts a mature guy who is well-liked by teammates, Ferrell told USA Today's Nicole Auerbach about his desire to leave a legacy this year with the Hoosiers.

Barring something unforeseen, Ferrell will be in the Big 10 Player of the Year conversation throughout the season. That will happen when you do things like score 16 points a game and hit 42 percent of your three-pointers, as Ferrell did last season. He's versatile, he has a quick release and, clearly, his eye is pretty accurate.

Why we hate him

Ferrell hasn't shown he can lead the team. Will the other players listen to him, or at least tacitly follow his example? This is a real sticking point for his detractors. As chronicled by InsideTheHall.com, head coach Tom Crean and recent IU alum Victor Oladipo have both pointed to leadership as a challenge for this season's squad. That's a pretty clear allusion to Ferrell.

On the court, Ferrell hasn't shown he can consistently guard anybody. That's a big part of the Hoosiers' 104.8 adjusted defensive efficiency, good for a sparkling 214th in the nation last season, per KenPom.com. In one-on-one situations, the 6'0" Ferrell doesn't have the size, the strength or the aggression to stop his man. He may have to sacrifice some of that scoring to conserve energy for the other end of the floor.

Shooting Guard: Isaiah Whitehead, Seton Hall

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Why we love him

Have you seen this dude play? There's a reason why, as a freshman last season, Isaiah Whitehead was second on the Pirates in scoring (12) and assists (3.5) and first in steals (1.4) per game. The Brooklyn native and McDonald's All-American has a great handle, a quick first step and a nose for the basket. He has good court sense and toughness on both sides of the ball and is an intense defender.

This season, after several transfers over the offseason, Seton Hall is his team. The Pirates are looking to rebound from last season's 16-15 campaign, and they will go as far as this talented sophomore can take them. They're off to an unspectacular 2-1 start, but Whitehead is leading them with an eye-popping 19 points and five assists per game.

Why we hate him

Remember those transfers I mentioned? Yeah, some people blamed Whitehead for that. Among the departures were standout guards Jaren Sina and Sterling Gibbs. At the end of last season, Jim Hague, who covers the Pirates for various media outlets, wrote on his personal blog:

"

Sina felt like he was an outsider, getting called names because others felt he was getting favoritism from [head coach Kevin] Willard, mentioning the color of Sina's skin as the reason. There's the major problem caused by the superstar attitude of Whitehead. ... The Whitehead faction has caused a tremendous rift within the core of the Pirates, one that now cannot be repaired, certainly not this season, if not ever. ... Whitehead has definitely not played like an NBA prospect this season. It's safe to say that he's been a gigantic bust.

"

Ouch.

If Whitehead is going to turn things around and lead between the lines, he'll have to tighten up his game. Last season's 3.3 turnovers per contest and 37 percent shooting average from the floor aren't going to get it done. 

Small Forward: Brandon Ingram, Duke

Lance King/Getty Images

Why we love him

So far, so good for arguably the country's most promising non-Ben Simmons freshman. All Brandon Ingram has done to distinguish himself in a Blue Devils uniform is average 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 each of assists, blocks and steals per game.

Granted, it's early, but the season's looking bright for the young North Carolinian. His rangy 6'9" frame is positively spring-loaded; he'll have more than his share of highlights by the time it's all said and done. That's right, baby. The Cameron Crazies, if you will, are going to go crazy like their name for this diaper dandy. 

Why we hate him

I probably shouldn't have to paint much of a picture here. Look at the name on the front of his uniform. Look at the report by the Big Lead's Jason McIntyre, which alludes to widespread talk of Ingram's cockiness. Look at the tweets in which he essentially admits to that cockiness with thoughts like "controlled arrogance = confidence."

I don't personally know whether he's cocky. But I do know he's a lightning rod by reason of, if absolutely nothing else, being a young stud on the Duke Blue Devils. If you don't think that's enough to attract love and hate from the various fanbases, welcome to college basketball.

Power Forward: Alex Poythress, Kentucky

James Crisp/Associated Press

Why we love him 

There's a lot riding on the broad shoulders of Alex Poythress. After missing all but eight games last season with a torn ACL, the big man missed almost all of UK's wild ride.

Poythress did his rehab work and tried to keep his chin up. In interviews now, he works to put a positive spin on the time away.

"I never got depressed or anything like that," Poythress said in an interview with Fox Sports. "But I learned to not take the game for granted. Basketball was taken away from me for a few months. I'm just so thankful and humbled that I can keep playing again."

The No. 2 Wildcats are doing OK so far, 3-0 and fresh off a defeat of Duke. Poythress isn't stuffing the stat sheet but he's a steady presence and a needed senior leader for freshman-dominated Kentucky.

Why we hate him

Poythress can jump. He can get up so high that he recently got his teeth caught in the net after a dunk. And at 6'8" and about 240 pounds, he's a rock-solid physical presence underneath.

So where's the production?

He only shoots 41 percent—not so great for a post player—and a pitiful 50 percent from the stripe so far this season. His 5.7 rebounds per game are good. His 0.0 assists per game are not, especially when you're committing 0.3 turnovers in the same timeframe. Sometimes he looks plain-old lost out there.

For all his gifts and the feel-good story he represents, he hasn't yet been able to bring his numbers up to the levels Kentucky fans would like to see, role player or not. 

Center: Kaleb Tarczewski, Arizona

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Why we love him

Well, he's a true 7-footer. We could start there if you wanted to. Like Ferrell, Kaleb Tarczewski skipped the NBA (very unexpectedly, in this case) to return to Arizona for his senior season. He's the only starter left from last season's Elite Eight squad, and he'll be a key part of whatever the Wildcats do this year.

Why we hate him

Despite his size, so far this season he's only third on Arizona with 6.7 rebounds per game. That's a pretty decent number but it raises a red flag when you consider that he only managed 5.2 boards per contest last season—down more than a full rebound per game from his sophomore average of 6.3. His block numbers are not stellar, either, with 0.7 per game this season so far and 0.6 per contest in 2014-15.

His scoring is good, but if he can't find a way to be tougher on the low block, he could drive Arizona fans a little batty this year.