Rudy’s the best pro in Tennessee

Once the Big Spaniard ventured off to Hollywood, Rudy Gay inherited the crown as the best player in all of Tennessee. Sure there isn’t much competition. But Gay had a career-high 36 points in Tuesday night’s loss to Phoenix, and has found the bottom of the net more frequently since Pau’s departure. He’s upped his scoring to 22.6 points during this ten-game span.

Perhaps that makes the state of Tennessee the laughing stock of the NBA as the only place where Rudy Gay could reign supreme. However, the Grizzlies are not emblematic of their city or larger state – no matter how hard GM Chris Wallace pursues his rogue mission. On the college level, Tennessee boasts three of the top teams in the nation, replete with as much talent as any other state in the union save for California.

We saw some of the best individual performances during Memphis, Tennessee and Vanderbilt’s intra-state fighting. But over the course of the season, whose full body of work stands out as tops in Tenn.?

The nominees…
Chris Douglas-Roberts 6-7, 200 lbs.: 17.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 55% FG, 46% 3FG
Derrick Rose 6-4, 190 lbs.: 13.9 ppg, 4.4 apg, 4.3 rpg, 1.3 spg, 46% FG
Shan Foster 6-7, 205 lbs.: 19.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 52% FG, 46% 3FG
Chris Lofton 6-2, 200 lbs.: 15.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, 40% FG, 38% 3FG
JaJuan Smith 6-2, 195 lbs.: 14.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.8 spg, 45% FG
Lester Hudson 6-3, 190 lbs.: 25.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.9 spg, 47% FG, 40% 3FG

Foster, CDR and Rose were named in the mid-season Naismith nominations – and Foster was the only one from the SEC to make that final 30-player list. He’s pretty much a lock for SEC POY, having already nailed 107 triples this season. To put that in perspective, Lofton hit 106 last year at a 42% clip, and was revered as the reincarnation of Rex Chapman.

While Shan (pronounced “Shane”) hasn’t gotten a quarter of the TV time that Rose and CDR have, he’s the can’t-miss player from Tennessee. He shot Vanderbilt past UT during their clash earlier this week with 32 points (9-13 FG), and in doing so, totally overshadowed Lofton’s 25. But Tennessee wouldn’t have been the top-ranked team in the nation if they didn’t collectively overcome Derrick Rose’s 23 points, 5 assists and 5 boards during the Calipari-Pearl showdown.

As per Cal’s opinion on an ESPN March Madness preview, Rose is already faster with the rock in his hands than either the Answer or Steph. He proved during that loss to Tennessee that he’s the most complete player on his team, but doesn’t qualify as the most complete player in the state. That honor goes to Tennessee-Martin’s Hudson, who ranks fourth in the nation in scoring. A Memphis-product, Hudson made it through some crazy obstacles before playing DI hoop for the first time this season. In his first game against Memphis, he dropped 35 with 10 boards, and in his second outing, he recorded the first ever DI quadruple-double.

It’s tough to argue against the local kid. But right now, I’m taking Foster. His high-arching jumper literally cannot be blocked by someone under 6-9, and he is the heart and soul of Kevin Stallings‘ ‘Dores. His ability to score at an alarmingly efficient rate will propel Vandy into the depths of the Tournament.