Working today on ranking shooting guards. . .these are the best that I have found so far; very early in the process:

1.  Kendall Williams, New Mexico State

            A pretty interesting player, an 18-year-old who starts for New Mexico State and has hit 11 out of 19 threes.   His father is a Private Investigator and his mother is a Math Professor, so we’re guessing he’s probably not a complete knucklehead.   Kendall is an avid chess player, and his sister, Britni, is a record-setting goal keeper for the University of Arkansas soccer team.

2.  Cam Long, George Mason

            A 6-4, 187-pound Senior from Florida who is among George Mason’s all-time leaders in points, rebounds, assists and 3-points.

3.  Corvonn Gaines, East Carolina

            The younger brother of former NBA first-round draft pick Reece Gaines, Gaines didn’t start as a freshman, but is starting now (as a sophomore).   His strongest point is his ability to get to the free throw line, where he has already scored 26 points this year, the highest total in this group of players.   Also has the best Assist to Turnover ratio on this list of players (33 to 15), shoots a very respectable 48% from the field, but has been missing almost all of his threes.

4.  DeAndre Kane, Marshall

            A red-shirt freshman who is scoring 18 points a game (17.6), the highest on this list of players.   But he also has 26 turnovers in 7 games, is hitting 25% on his threes and 56% of his free throws (25 of 45).  

5.   Kyle Collinsworth, BYU

            A 6-6 freshman, he is the tallest (and whitest) player on this list, and was recruited by more quality basketball schools than anyone else, including Kansas, Stanford and USC.    He’s hitting 42% from the foul line (11 for 26) and hasn’t made a 3-pointer yet this season.

6.  Chase Grabau, Idaho State

            6-5 Juco transfer, started for two years at North Platte Community College.   Has scored only 25 points in five games, but could be the best rebounder on the list.

7.  Evan Washington, Air Force

            As a Junior he led the Academy in points (318), rebounds, assists and steals, albeit with generally unimpressive totals.    His mother, Deanne, is a member of the Indiana basketball Hall of Fame.   Evan lists his favorite book as the Bible and his hobbies as sleeping and eating, so he sounds like a fun guy.    Shot decently last year (48% from the floor, 40% on threes and 66% on free throws), but has not shot the ball well this season (40% from the floor, 21-for-41 from the foul line, 0-for-1 on threes.)

8.  Trian Iliadius, Old Dominion

            An Australian kid who doesn’t start for ODU, and whose name is spelled at least four different ways on various parts of the Old Dominion Athletic Web Site.    Jacks up a lot of threes (28 so far this year), and has hit 46% of them.

9.  Darian Thibodeaux, Houston 

            A Juco transfer who plays 34 minutes a game for Houston, the most of anyone on this list except Evan Washington, who plays 38.   Shoots a lot of threes and isn’t bad at that, but assist to turnover ratio is almost even, and he almost never gets to the foul line.

10.   Derrick Thomas, Drexel

            A 6-4 Sophomore who started 31 games as a freshman.   Very strong defensive player, but 19-for-81 shooting threes (as a freshman), and only 56% from the foul line.   Has been shooting better this year, and also not as much.    A native New Yorker who is apparently no relation to the NFL star of the same name.