My favorite KU player for as long as I could remember has always been Jacque Vaughn. Vaughn came along right as I was coming into my sports awakening as a young adolescent and had the perfect mix to make him my favorite player.
Vaughn was not necessarily anything all that special, he wasn't a great shooter and didn't score much, but you would be hard pressed to find a better general out on the court than that man. He ran the offense to perfection, could get up and down the court, made good decisions and was one of best, crispest passers I have ever seen. He was gritty, a good leader, humble, and an all around good player. This was a hard combo to beat for a favorite player. I have had many favorite players that have gone through KU, but none on the level of Jacque Vaughn (up to this point anyway). Raef Lafrentz, Kirk Hinrich, Jeff Graves, Keith Langford, Julian Wright, just to name a few, but none quite got that title of favorite of all time. Then along came Sherron Collins.
I still remember sitting in my room at the fraternity house in college when one of my friends came down to tell me about how KU had just signed one of the best point guards in the country. I didn't know much about him at the time, but that would soon change. Sherron came onto the team as a freshman and surprised a lot of people to get a lot more playing time than people thought he would. He had a solid freshman season and was primed to make a run at the starting gig for his second year. At the beginning of his sophomore season, he was indeed slotted as the starter until a knee injury kept him out for most of the first half of the season. He came back and was out of shape, much to the ire of Head Coach Bill Self. However, he was able to get back into shape, and turned himself into the best and most lethal sixth man in the country. Mario Chalmers gets all the credit for the 2008 National Championship, and rightfully so, but it was Sherron's steal and 3-point shot with just under 2 minutes to go that put the game within reach and ultimately led to a National Championship.
It's hard to imagine having to go from 6th man to being the leader of the defending National Champions (who lost 6 of their 7 highest scoring players) the very next year. However, Sherron was able to do it without breaking a sweat. Sherron came into preseason a little out of shape but got into game shape by the season opener and never looked back. Sherron immediately asserted himself as the leader of the team averaging over 18 points and 4 assists a game. He was the biggest reason KU "overachieved" and made it to the Sweet 16 even though they were so young and everyone thought it was a rebuilding year. This was just a taste of what Sherron could do when he was handed the reins of the team.
Them came his senior year (this year). Coach Self has recently been quoted saying what makes Sherron so special is his ability to be a coach on the court. His basketball IQ is high, doesn't make many bad decisions and keeps the team in line. This year he has shown his ability to put the team on his back and ratchet up the intensity level for the whole team when his team needs it the most (see Cornell and K-State games). He is a sure fire player of the year candidate and the best floor general in the nation. John Wall may be more talented but he can't run his team like Sherron can. Sherron will inevitably not win the player of the year award, but you ask coaches around the country and they will tell you he is the best most valuable player on the best team in the country.
It was his performance against Cornell (33 points and carried the team on his back near the end) that really solidified him as my favorite KU player of all time. It started with hitting the shot against Memphis in the 2008 title game (after which I bought my beloved #4 jersey) and solidified itself versus Cornell. As hard as it was to find a player to replace Jacque Vaughn in may pantheon on all-time KU favorites it will be that much harder to find someone to replace Sherron. If KU goes on to win another National Championship then it may just be set in stone forever that Sherron will remain my favorite player of all time. It will be an emotional night tonight for Sherron and hopefully it will end in a victory and he will leave Allen Fieldhouse for the last time as a player with that great feeling of a victory and his held high as he is ready to lead his team into one last battle in March to get to that 'one shining moment.'
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