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Doug McDermott doesn't play in the CAA, therefore there isn't a definitive best player in the conference; rather, there are a handful of excellent players who all deserve to be considered the Most Valuable Player.
Anybody can look at scoring per game and rebounding per game. Let's look at the Ultimate MVP Table, brought to you by... myself and sports statistics everywhere. Scoring efficiency can be explained here as the ultimate gage of how efficiently a player uses his shots during a game.
| Rk | Player (School) | Points Per Game | Scoring Efficiency | Percent of Team's Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sherrod Wright (GMU) | 18.1 | 53.88 | 27.77 |
| 2 | Jerrelle Benimon (TOW) | 16.7 | 54.60 | 25.38 |
| 3 | Keith Rendleman (UNCW) | 15.9 | 53.19 | 25.84 |
| 4 | Devon Saddler (DEL) | 19.2 | 47.47 | 28.17 |
| 5 | Damion Lee (DREX) | 18.2 | 46.78 | 23.22 |
| 6 | Joel Smith (NU) | 16.6 | 50.38 | 23.85 |
| 7 | Rayshawn Goins (JMU) | 13.7 | 48.24 | 21.27 |
| 8 | R.J. Hunter (GSU) | 16.0 | 45.88 | 24.28 |
| 9 | Tim Rusthoven (W&M) | 14.9 | 56.91 | 21.93 |
| 10 | Marcus Thornton (W&M) | 17.9 | 45.53 | 26.33 |
For my money, the fight is between Sherrod Wright and Jerrelle Benimon for the title. If you look at their rankings both in scoring and scoring efficiency, as well as what they do for their individual teams, the argument is clear.
Wright scores almost 28 percent of his team's middle of the road offense (ranked sixth in the CAA in total points) with 53.88 scoring efficiency, the third-best mark in the conference in that department.
He's also third in the conference in points per game with 18.1. The number two scorer on his team? Johnny Williams with 7.0. So his support scoring is sporadic at best, and is essentially nonexistent on the whole.
On the other side of the argument, Benimon is scoring a little over a quarter of his team's points each game -- slightly less than Wright -- with ever-so-slightly better efficiency. The Benimonster is putting up 1.4 fewer points than Wright, but at that point, the disparity is so minimal that it doesn't really effect the rankings.
The huge key in my book for putting Wright ahead of Benimon is that Towson actually has a secondary scoring threat in Marcus Damas. He averages 10 points per game for the Tigers to back up Benimon's 16.7.
Jerrelle clearly outclasses Wright in rebounds, 11.2-5.1, which is why it is so tough to reason out the two. They're clearly the top two candidates in the conference, with Keith Rendleman lying in wait behind them both. But, for this week, Sherrod Wright is my CAA MVP... for now.
It can easily change by next Tuesday. That's why they play the games.