Jarvis Varnado: King of the Paint

Don't know the name yet? You will. Jarvis Varnado is currently the second best shot blocker in NCAA Men's Basketball history. He is a 6-9, 230 pound, senior forward on the Mississippi State Bulldogs. As of February 19, 2010, Varnado has 521 career blocks. The NCAA Men's Basketball career block record stands at 535 blocks, set by Wojciech Myrda. Varnado has a 7'4" wingspan. His nicknames include "Swat" and "Sultan of Swat."

Mississippi State University is located in Starksville, Mississippi. When there is a home basketball game, the city is nicknamed "Swatville" in dedication of Varnado. In Mississippi State's home stadium (nicknamed "The Hump"), the athletic department put a banner directly behind the visitor bench that reads, "Welcome to Swat's Block Party." The athletic department also ordered 10,000 fly swatters to distribute to fans when Varnado breaks the NCAA block record.

In my opinion, Varnado is the most underrated player in the NCAA. He is also the most dominant. He is on pace to shatter the block record. Varnado is a force. Just take a look at his stats from this season: 13.2 points per game, 11.1 rebounds per game, .9 assists per game, .6 steals per game, and a staggering and unbelievable 5 blocks per game. With five games remaining in the regular season, Varnado is a lock to break the block record. His coaches highly respect his ability to play. Head coach Rick Stansbury said, "I can promise you this: In his four years here, we've never done one shot-blocking drill."

Varnado is not only the best defensive player in the game (he is the back-to-back SEC Defensive Player of the Year), he is a role model off of the court. In an interview with Sports Illustrated writer Joe Lemire, Varnado said that breaking the NCAA block record would be, "an extreme honor." When Lemire asked about the feeling of blocking so many shots Varnado replied, "All of them are the same to me. I don't get too high off one." He is not only humble, but also very unselfish. Varnado gave up his scholarship his senior season so that Mississippi State could get blue-chip recruit Renardo Sidney a scholarship.

In Varnado's future, he will enter the NBA Draft. According to draftexpress.com, Varnado is currently projected to be the 32nd pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. In 40 minutes of playing time (a pace-changing projection by draftexpress.com), he would average 19.1 points per game, 15.1 rebounds per game, and an absurd 7.2 blocks per game.

Varnado is unknown throughout most of the country, but I don't expect that to continue. A player of his caliber and of his heart shouldn't have gone unnoticed for this long. But it won't matter. When it is all said and done, I believe that Jarvis Varnado will be remembered as a legendary defensive player, known mostly for his unimaginable ability to block shots. The way that I look at him, he truly is the, "King of the Paint."