http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8632637/eight-players-watch-2012-charleston-classic-ncbD'Angelo Harrison
School: St. John's | Class: Sophomore
Position: Guard | Height: 6-3 | Weight: 202
Hometown: Missouri City, Texas
2011-12 Averages: 17.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.6 SPG
The Backstory:
Like so many young teams, St. John's had trouble scoring last season, especially from three. A definite bright spot, however, was D'Angelo Harrison, the guard that had the sensational freshman season and stayed -- unlike teammate and fellow Big East All-Rookie Team guard Moe Harkless, who won Big East Rookie of the Year then left for the NBA. Harrison was named to this year's preseason All-Big East Second Team, and will lead the Johnnies, who were picked for 10th. He'll try to build on his freshman season during which he led the team in scoring (17.0 PPG) while putting in a school-freshman-record 544 points. He also led the team in three-point shooting (.367), free throw shooting (.804) and steals (1.6, SPG), making 52 thefts one more than Harkless and Sir'Dominic Pointer. His .800 free throw shooting stood out on a team that shot 68 percent for the season. Harrison, the third-ranked scorer nationally among freshmen, had 28 double-figure-scoring games, led St. John's in scoring 15 times, in rebounding once and in assists seven times and saved the best for last. He capped off his freshman campaign by recording his first double-double, a 12-point, 10-rebound effort against Pittsburgh. That day was one of mixed emotions, however; he recorded his first double-digit rebounding game, setting highs in offensive and defensive rebounding, but also shot 4-for-18 and 0-for-6 from three in the loss to the Panthers. Harrison, like the Red Storm, believes a year older will translate into being a year better.
Key Stat: .367/76
That's Harrison's shooting from behind the arc and three-point field goals made. He shot more than 80 points higher than the team's average. His 76 three-point FGMs set a school record (four more than Avery Patterson's 2007 total) and was 22 more than the rest of the team combined.
Did You Know: Harrison's 17.0 season scoring average is second for a freshman in St. John's history, behind only Felipe Lopez, who averaged 17.8 in 1994-95. He came in just ahead of Chris Mullin, the school's all-time scoring leader, who averaged 16.6 PPG in his freshman season of 1981-82.
Andrew Lawrence
School: College of Charleston | Class: Senior
Position: Guard | Height: 6-1 | Weight: 185
Hometown: London, England
2011-12 Averages: 13.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.9 SPG
Career Averages: 7.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.2 SPG
The Backstory:
It's a new era at the College of Charleston, as Doug Wojcik takes over as head coach for Bobby Cremins, and Lawrence becomes the focal point of the offense following the graduation of Antawaine Wiggins. The Cougars are in good hands with the London-born point guard. Lawrence is coming off a break-out season that saw him finish just out of the top 10 in the Southern Conference in scoring, while ranking third in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio and leading the conference in steals. On a team that lived by the three (C of C was second in the SoCon, canning 7.9 per game) Lawrence tied Wiggins with 1.9 three-point field goals per game (eighth in the conference). He proved he could light it up, scoring a career-best and a team-season-high 32 against Elon and showed that he was not shy about taking the shot. (His had 19 field goal attempts and 13 three-point field goal tries vs. Chattanooga on Dec. 19, both were team- and season-highs.) He also led the team with six three-point field goals against Appalachian State on Feb. 4. Lawrence is effective at the defensive end as well. His 58 steals led the Southern and, despite his diminutive frame, he tied for 11th in the conference in blocked shots, with 17. That was the same number of blocks as Appalachian State's 6-10, 290-pound center Isaac Butts.
Key Stat: .343
While Lawrence was one of the Southern Conference's best three-point shooters in the number of three-pointers made, his career .343 shooting percentage is an area he'd like to improve.
Did You Know: Lawrence was the youngest player on Great Britain's Olympic basketball team roster and was one of only two college players to make it on any of the 12 teams that competed in the London Games. (Matthew Dellavedova of Saint Mary's represented Australia).