This Decade in Wrenball

He didn't make the list, but Paul Rowley may well wind

up the most accomplished human of all of the decade's 

Tribesmen

We're thirty some-odd days from the end of this particular artificial demarcation of time, and our readership is clamoring for the kind of fin de decade content that they got at the end of the last one. Which is to say, more of our usual crap.

But there is one particular content category that's well-suited to a ten-year retrospective. 2010-2019 marked the best decade in the history of W&M men's basketball - the most wins in a decade (161), the most conference wins in the CAA era, and the most conference tournament finals (3). It was the first decade since the 50s that the Tribe even posted a winning record. There's an argument to be made that the three best players in school history matriculated this decade, and no argument at all to be made that the best game in school history took place during the 2010s.

So in the best tradition of our brethren (and sistren) in bloggery, we'd be remiss if we didn't offer a top ten list of W&M best players of the decade. And in our best tradition, this one goes to 11.

11. Connor Burchfield (2015-18)

6.2 points/game, 1.9 rebounds/game, 0.9 assists/game, 50.7% career 3-point FG %

This is really an honorable mention nod in recognition of how much Burchfield improved. He was a relative non-factor his first three seasons in Williamsburg, though he could shoot the ball from the beginning. As a senior, though, he was both excellent and necessary. The slender 6'4" guard led the nation in three-point shooting percentage (52.0) and true shooting percentage (.730). Burchfield drained a school-record 10 threes in a win over Marshall. And he led the nation in dagger three-pointers made to clinch games at George Mason while I was talking to GMU AD Brad Edwards about how bad it would be for the Patriots to lose at home to William & Mary.

10. Brandon Britt (2010-14)

11.1 ppg/2.1 rpg/1.8 apg

Britt wasn't superior at any one thing - he was a decent scorer, shot well (50% from deep his senior year), was steady on the ball, a good defender. He excelled as a leader. My favorite memory of Britt came against Drexel in Philly his senior season. Then-freshman Daniel Dixon had missed a handful of open looks, but had done a good job defensively on the Dragons' dangerous Chris Fouch. In a late-game huddle, Britt put his hand on the young Dixon's head and whispered a few words of encouragement. The Tribe went on to win that game in spectacular fashion (we'll see more about that later). Britt was a CAA All-Academic honoree three times, too.

9. Justin Pierce (2017-19)

11.1 ppg/6.5 rpg/2.3 apg

After a nondescript freshman season, Pierce burst into CAA prominence as a sophomore, averaging 14.7 points and 8.6 boards per game (4th in the CAA). He improved in both categories as a junior, to 14.9 and 8.8 (3rd in the league) respectively, and added 4.1 assists/game. He owns three of the top six highest single-game rebound totals in school history (18 against JMU in 2018, 17 against the Dukes in 2019, and 17 against Savannah State in 2017).

Pierce's athleticism and all-court skills would've given him an outside shot at an All-CAA first-team nod as a senior (he made the third team in his sophomore and junior seasons).  We'll never know - Pierce was probably the best player to leave W&M in the wake of Tony Shaver's firing. He's averaging 7.0 points and 6.2 rebounds as a major bench contributor for North Carolina. Goddammit.

8. Omar Prewitt (2013-17)

14.5 ppg/5.1 rpg/2.5 apg

Unlike Pierce, Prewitt played a big role from the beginning of his Tribe career. As a freshman, his driving dunk in the CAA Tournament final turned momentum W&M's way, and should've been the catalyst for a breakthrough win. Fuck.

If we're being honest, Omar was always just a little bit inconsistent - an enigmatic star who could go for 33 in a CAA semi almost as easily as he could disappear for games at a time. He regressed across the board as a senior, when we might've expected him to make the leap after a first-team All-CAA nod as a junior. It was fun to say Omar comin', though.

7. David Cohn (2015-18)

10.0 ppg/2.5 rpg/5.9 apg

It's not a stretch to say that the transfer from Colorado State is the best point guard in the history of the W&M program. He holds all-time school records for total assists, single-season assists, and assist/turnover ratio. His three seasons in Green and Gold all rank among the top 4 in assists/game, including the all-time best of 6.67 in his senior campaign. In that year, he led the CAA in assists, free throw percentage (91.2), and Offensive Rating. Dude was fun to watch.

6. Tim Rusthoven (2010-14)

10.5 ppg/5.4 rpg/1.5 apg/0.8 blocks per game

The Teej says he should be higher on this list, if only because he has the program's best nickname, and I can't really argue with that. Beasthoven is another who saw his numbers dip as a senior after a stellar junior campaign, but in his case it was because Terry Tarpey and Omar Prewitt were getting some of his rebounds (he still wound up 19th all-time in rebounds at W&M), and Marcus Thornton and Prewitt increased their scoring at his expense (he's 23rd in school history). He shot a career-high 59.0% from the field that year, and led the league in Offensive Rating. He's seventh all-time in the CAA in FG%.

Rusthoven also won the 2014 Dean Ehlers Leadership Award, given annually to the male and female CAA basketball players who "embody the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with his academic athletic achievement."

And, again, his nickname was Beasthoven.

5. Quinn McDowell (2008-2012)

12.9 ppg/4.8 rpg/1.5 apg

The Mighty Quinn did Beasthoven one better, winning back to back Dean Ehlers awards his junior and senior seasons. On the court, he was another who peaked as a junior, averaging 15.5 points and 5.4 boards while making 45.5% of his threes. The Tribe's 8th-leading all-time scorer dropped a then-record 35 points against James Madison in the first round of the 2011 CAA Tournament, the definition of heat check. In his sophomore season, McDowell led the conference in Win Shares - he's 8th all-time in the league in that category. He was overshadowed as a senior by the emergence of the electric Thornton, but we'll hear more from the current assistant at Lehigh - he's not done as a leader in college hoops.

4. Daniel Dixon (2013-17)

11.9 ppg/3.3 rpg/1.6 apg

A confession: when Dixon was a freshman, I thought he was a nice defender who was just a little bit too stiff offensively to contribute much on that end. I don't know very much. There aren't many players who've consistently improved as much as Dixon across the course of a career. He went from a solid 12.5 ppg as a junior to a first-team all-CAA guard as a senior on the strength of his 19.2 ppg. That season, he was second in the league in scoring. As a sophomore, he led the league in three-point shooting percentage.

As we wrote in this very space, Dixon's senior season compares favorably with that of Marcus Thornton.

Oh, and he also hit that shot:



3. Terry Tarpey (2012-16)

7.6 ppg/5.3 rpg/2.2 apg/1.4 steals per game/1.0 blg

There has never been another player at William & Mary remotely like Tarpey. For my money, he's the best all-around basketball athlete in school history. As a 6'5" wing, he led the CAA in rebounds, steals, Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating, and finished second in blocked shots. He's fifth all-time in defensive rebounds in league play. He was a two-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year. The fact that he never made first-team all-league is a goddamned crime, for which I blame the media. Looking at you, Fairbank.

Tarpey was all red-ass, all the time. Again, as a guard, he led the Tribe in rebounds three straight seasons. He's fifth on the school's all-time boards list, 18th all-time in assists, third in steals, and fourth in blocks. All that for a player that averaged double-digit points his final two seasons is damn near unheard-of.

2. Nathan Knight (2016-20)

16.7 ppg/7.0 rpg/2.2 apg/1.8 bpg

If Cohn's the best point guard in W&M history, then Knight is the best big man to ever wear Green and Gold (with a great deal of due respect to Bill Chambers, who still holds the NCAA record for rebounds in a game with 51 against UVA in 1953). The only active player on this list (well, Pierce notwithstanding, dammit), Knight's taken a step up this year from an already lofty foundation.

The 6'10" lefthander is averaging 19.9 points and 10.3 rebounds a game in his senior season, when he's the absolute focus of every opponent's defensive game plan. He put 30 and 8 on Oklahoma in a game W&M absolutely should've won. He was third in the CAA in scoring last year, and led the league in blocked shots as a sophomore and a junior. Knight has a decent shot at finishing his career in the top five in school history in points, rebounds, and blocks (he's already second in the latter). Decent, that.

The 2018-19 All-CAA first-teamer and two-time CAA Defensive first-teamer took a peek at the NBA Draft after the chaos of the offseason. If he keeps up his play, he'll be the third Tribe player in the last five years to hear his name called on draft day.

1. Marcus Thornton (2011-15)

17.1 ppg/2.6 rpg/2.2 apg

Our feelings about Thornton are no secret. From the moment he exploded into our consciousness as a precocious freshman to his valedictory, W&M hoops has never seen anything like him. When he single-handedly carried the Tribe to overtime against a much, much better VCU team, or when he dropped 37 on Hofstra before giving the ball up to Dixon to make the game-winner in that epic game, or when everyone in the gym knew he was shooting against Drexel and he still rose, kicked out that leg, and drained it, when he did those things, he did things William & Mary players never did.

The 2015 CAA Player of the Year (the only W&M player so honored), Thornton is W&M's leading all-time scorer, and fifth in CAA history. He led the league in both three-point field goals and three-point field goal percentage in both 2012-13 and 2013-14.

He was electric at a school that was acoustic chamber music. When he plugged in, he changed the trajectory of a program. I don't expect to ever see his equal.