November 4, 2009

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball

One look at a list of the nation's best small forwards reveals why this should be a season of resurgence for the Big Ten and SEC.

Two Big Ten rivals - Ohio State's Evan Turner and Purdue's Robbie Hummel - are the top two small forwards in the preseason edition of the Rivals.com College Basketball Power Rankings, which measure the nation's top performers at each position.

They're followed in order by SEC foes Tyler Smith of Tennessee and Tasmin Mitchell of LSU.

The rankings at small forward featured a bigger mid-major flavor than at any position but center. Eight of our top 25 small forwards play for schools from outside the six major conferences.

That group is headed by No. 7 Jonathan Tavernari of BYU, No. 8 Gordon Hayward of Butler and No. 12 Edwin Ubiles of Siena.

THE TOP 25 SMALL FORWARDS ??
??1. Evan Turner, Ohio State, 6-7/205, Jr. ??
??2. Robbie Hummel, Purdue, 6-8/208, Jr. ??
??3. Tyler Smith, Tennessee, 6-7/215, Sr. ??
??4. Tasmin Mitchell, LSU, 6-7/245, Sr. ??
??5. Devin Ebanks, West Virginia, 6-9/215, Soph. ??
??6. Quincy Pondexter, Washington, 6-6/215, Sr. ??
??7. Jonathan Tavernari, BYU, 6-6/215, Sr. ??
??8. Gordon Hayward, Butler, 6-9/207, Soph. ??
??9. Kevin Coble, Northwestern, 6-8/210, Sr.
10. Wesley Johnson, Syracuse, 6-7/205, Jr.
11. Raymar Morgan, Michigan State, 6-8/230, Sr.
12. Edwin Ubiles, Siena, 6-6/204, Sr.
13. Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt, 6-7/210, Soph.
14. Obi Muonelo, Oklahoma State, 6-5/220, Sr.
15. Theo Robertson, California, 6-6/230, Sr.
16. Landry Fields, Stanford, 6-7/210, Sr.
17. Rakim Sanders, Boston College, 6-5/228, Jr.
18. Damian Johnson, Minnesota, 6-7/205, Sr.
19. Wesley Witherspoon, Memphis, 6-9/210, Soph.
20. Marqus Blakely, Vermont, 6-5/225, Sr.
21. Roderick Flemings, Hawaii, 6-7/210, Sr.
22. Shamari Spears, Charlotte, 6-6/245, Jr.
23. Chris Singleton, Florida State, 6-9/227, Soph.
24. Damian Saunders, Duquesne, 6-7/210, Jr.
25. Darius Miller, Kentucky, 6-7/223, Soph.

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.