NIT Season Tip-Off: 10 Most Impressive Players at the Preseason Tournament

The preseason edition of the NIT is down to its last two contenders, with the title game set to tip off tonight at Madison Square Garden.

As usual, the tournament has showcased an impressive variety of big-name and lesser-known teams, but also as usual, it’s the power-conference schools—Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Stanford and Oklahoma State—that made it to the Garden for the nationally-televised semifinal round.

To no one’s surprise, No. 5 Syracuse—the top seed and only ranked team in the field—will be playing for the tournament title. Their opponents will be third-seeded Stanford, whose balanced offense will face its toughest test of the season against Jim Boeheim’s vaunted zone defense.

Herein, a closer look at some of the top-notch players and great performances that have highlighted the tournament so far.

10. Aaron Bright, Stanford

Stanford has relied on an ensemble-cast approach in winning its first five games, but the closest thing to a leading man has been sophomore point guard Aaron Bright.

In addition to averaging 3.5 assists a game, Bright has been the Cardinal's leading scorer, racking up a career-high 21 points in the win over Fresno State to open the NIT.

The 5’11” Bright also looked sharp in Wednesday's beatdown of Oklahoma State, posting 15 points and four assists in the victory.

He’ll be in for a steep challenge tonight as he looks to shut down Syracuse senior Scoop Jardine and keep the Cardinal offense running against the 2-3 zone of the No. 5 Orange.

9. DeJuan Wright, Florida International

The biggest upset of the NIT’s first round saw Isiah Thomas’ FIU Golden Panthers take down fifth-seeded George Mason. The hero of that game, and one of the team’s top offensive options on the young season, was senior guard DeJuan Wright.

The 6’4” Wright scored 23 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in defeating the Patriots, and he added another 17 and four, respectively, in Tuesday’s loss to Oral Roberts in the consolation bracket. On the year, Wright is averaging 14 points and a team-leading seven rebounds a night.

Image from fiusports.com.

8. Le’Bryan Nash, Oklahoma State

The Big 12’s most anticipated freshman, Le’Bryan Nash has started to find his footing after putting up marginal numbers in the Cowboys’ first two blowout wins. The 6’7” swingman racked up a team-high 16 points in Oklahoma State’s loss to Stanford in the semifinals.

On the season, Nash is averaging 12 points and an impressive 6.3 rebounds per game. Look for him to take over as the Cowboys’ primary scoring option as the season progresses.

7. Dorian Finney-Smith, Virginia Tech

The NIT has its share of impressive freshman guards, but the best first-year player in the frontcourt has been Dorian Finney-Smith. The slender 6’8”, 192-lb forward has shown that he knows how to use his length, leading Virginia Tech with 10 rebounds a game this season.

Finney-Smith’s offensive game has been intermittent, with his 14-point effort against Florida International offset by a pair of single-digit performances (including one point on just two field-goal attempts against Monmouth).

He’ll have plenty of time to develop as a scorer, though, while his work on the glass keeps him in the Hokies' lineup.

6. Scoop Jardine, Syracuse

One of the country’s top distributors a year ago, Scoop Jardine hasn’t exactly put up noteworthy numbers to start the 2011-12 season.

Still, the Syracuse senior—who posted 5.9 assists a game last year—has done his part to keep the No. 5 Orange unbeaten heading into tonight’s NIT title game.

To be fair, Jardine has had very little opportunity to impress, as Wednesday’s win over Virginia Tech was the first time he’d played even 20 minutes in a game.

Although he ceded much of his playing time to hot hand Dion Waiters against the Hokies, Jardine is a good bet to bounce back and start looking like the Big East’s best point guard again as the Orange continue facing more competitive opponents (including Stanford tonight).

5. Gerardo Suero, Albany

Albany didn’t last long in the NIT’s main bracket, taking out Brown in the opening round before getting trounced by top-seeded Syracuse. Even in that small window, though, Gerardo Suero established himself as one of the best pure scorers in the tournament field.

The junior shooting guard piled up 29 points and nine rebounds in the win over the Bears, then followed up with a dazzling 31-point effort (on 9-for-16 shooting) in a losing cause against Syracuse.

Despite being shut down by George Mason in the consolation round, Suero is averaging 20.6 points (along with 5.8 rebounds) for the Great Danes this season.

Image from ualbanysports.com.

4. Cezar Guerrero, Oklahoma State

Classmate Le'Bryan Nash got all the preseason hype, but the most impressive performance from anyone on Oklahoma State’s roster so far has come from freshman guard Cezar Guerrero.

The 6’0” Guerrero poured in 29 points (including eight three-pointers) in the Cowboys’ hard-fought 90-85 win over Texas-San Antonio in the NIT's second round.

Guerrero (like the rest of the Oklahoma State offense) came back to earth in losing to Stanford on Wednesday, but he’s still leading the team with 14 points a game.

Expect Guerrero, who also leads the Cowboys with 2.5 assists a night, to score less and distribute more as the season continues for Travis Ford’s team.

3. Dorenzo Hudson, Virginia Tech

Even after just four games, it’s become very apparent that the key to Virginia Tech’s offense this season will be shooting guard Dorenzo Hudson.

The 6’5” senior is leading the team by a wide margin with 17.8 points per game, and his 31 points and five boards keyed the Hokies’ win over Florida International.

Hudson struggled in Wednesday’s loss to Syracuse, but he’s far from the only scorer who will look lost against the Orange’s 2-3 zone this season. Look for Hudson to resume his big-time point production in tonight’s third-place game against Oklahoma State.

2. Ryan Pearson, George Mason

At 6’6” and 230 lbs, Ryan Pearson isn’t anyone’s idea of an NBA power forward. On the young 2011-12 season, though, the George Mason senior has proven that he’s developed into an outstanding 4-man at the college level.

Pearson is leading the Patriots with 21.3 points and nine rebounds per game.

The lone bright spot in the loss to Florida International—he posted 18 points and 10 boards—Pearson has hit a remarkable 59.3 percent of his shots from the field while leading his team to a 4-2 record that includes NIT victories over Brown and Albany. 

1. Kris Joseph, Syracuse

With Syracuse on cruise control through its first four games, few of the Orange’s starters got a chance to show what they could really do.

That situation changed with Wednesday’s matchup against Virginia Tech, and Kris Joseph stepped up to lead the 69-58 comeback win.

Joseph, Syracuse’s leading scorer with 14.8 points a game, racked up 20 points and 10 boards in beating the Hokies. Look for the senior to lead the charge once again in a Syracuse win in tonight’s championship game.