Nikola Maric certainly had a solid season, especially for a freshman. It would be interesting to know how he did against some of our better big men at a comparable stage in their careers. The problem is that we do not have many records for a comparable season. The only two inside players for whom we have freshman stats are Larry Johnson and Muntrelle Dobbins.
NM - 10.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 51.7%, 20 blocks, 52 assists
LJ - 13.3 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 48.1%, 113 blocks, 53 assists
MD - 7.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 46.3%, 29 blocks, 9 assists
Perhaps this is not a fair comparison, but it does give us a little idea about Maric's potential. Johnson and Dobbins are two of the giants in Trojan history, #6 and #8, respectively, on the all-time scoring list. Johnson dominates the rebounding and blocks stats. Dobbins was one of the better rebounders in Sun Belt history.
Maric comes up short in rebounding and blocks, but compares very favorably in the other categories. Plus, he made 42.9% of this 3-point attempts. That shot did not exist in Johnson's day, and Dobbins was a pure low-post man, attempting only one shot from the arc in his career.
The bottom line? If Maric stays in Little Rock and stays healthy, there is no reason to doubt that he will end up among the elites. That is something to look forward to.
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