Mr. Basketball Candidate: Eron Gordon
With the start of the high school season, we look to dive into the possible candidates for the Mr. Basketball Award in Indiana. Since 2006, seven of the ten winner have been drafted by NBA teams. Of those three others,…
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Continue ReadingWith the start of the high school season, we look to dive into the possible candidates for the Mr. Basketball Award in Indiana. Since 2006, seven of the ten winner have been drafted by NBA teams. Of those three others, Bloomington South’s Jordan Hulls went undrafted and Hamilton Southeastern’s Zak Irvin and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan are still in college. This prestigious award is always a difficult choice with the amount of talent in the state every year.
This year is no different and maybe even more than the past few. There are no really dominant teams at the top levels and that evens the playing field even more. Players from all over the state should vie for this opportunity. Guys like Dru Smith down in Evansville or Damien Jefferson up in East Chicago. As always, there are tons of options in the central part of the state with C.J. Walker, Eron Gordon, Kyle Guy, and Joey Brunk near the top of the list.
This season will be difficult to predict but we breakdown some of the key factors of each player we think has an early shot this year. We begin with Eron Gordon of Cathedral (IN).
Eron Gordon of Cathedral (IN)
There has been talk of the potential of Eron Gordon since before he played a game. Then he came out and dropped 31 in his first high school game against a loaded Pike team. The talent was real. Here we are four years later and as a senior Eron is still one of the best of the class. He hasn't been as big of a name as the early, early hype made him out to be but there is no denying he's really good. He moved after his sophomore year to go to Cathedral and missed a decent amount of the year but came back strong and made them look like a contender. Now, he's quite accomplished and a veteran on a veteran Cathedral squad but also in the toughest Sectional in the state. Things will be as hard as they ever have been for him but he's a guy that can handle it. The question is can he be the best in the state in his final season.
?WHY HE CAN WIN
Much like Kyle Guy, Eron is likely to put up some ridiculous numbers and do it against the best competition the state has. He's a household name and people understand that he is really good and expect him to be. As long as he doesn't have a lull in his final year he's going to be in the running with the postseason being a determinant. Cathedral is going to be sneaky good this year as they are loaded up on seniors. Getting the team to play together will be something to watch but there is no doubt they have enough talent. One really well timed hot streak and they could be looking at a Sectional Title. He has a lot of things on his side and if he is as consistent as he has always been, he has a great shot.
THINGS TO WATCH FOR
There are a few issues for Eron that others won't incur. He's got a lot of trouble with his transfer situation last year as it has a bit of a black mark on his record. Whether right or wrong, it is something that voters will likely have in the back of their minds. The other issue is that Eron has been good for so long, he's not as exciting as some other names. He's expected to be good and he almost always is. However, there was little room to improve since he was in the 8th grade. It isn't as much of a knock on Eron as it is a positive for the competition.