Wright-Foreman's case for Haggerty honors growing stronger

After 42-point game and buzzer-beater Saturday, Hofstra's Justin Wright-Foreman has staked claim as best player in New York metro area, joining Shamorie Ponds and Myles Powell in Haggerty Award race. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Vincent Simone (@VTSimone)

Justin Wright-Foreman's improbable game-winner against Northeastern Saturday evening was just the icing on the latest tour de force performance in a senior campaign that has the Queens native in position to earn recognition as the top player in the New York Metropolitan Area.

Wright-Foreman’s running three at the buzzer not only pushed Hofstra to a 3-0 start in Colonial Athletic Association play, but extended the Pride’s overall winning streak to 10 games, its longest since the 2000-01 season in which the team eventually strung together an 18 game streak. The shot also gave the senior a career-high 42 points, marking both the first 40-point game of Wright-Foreman’s career and the first by a Hofstra player in regulation since Craig “Speedy” Claxton during the 1999-2000 campaign.

“I can’t even express words; I’m just happy to be in the moment,” Wright-Foreman said following Saturday’s win. “I’ve come up close [to 40], but my goals weren’t just for myself. My goals were team-oriented, so just to hit 40 is an honor but I’d rather get the win with my teammates.”

Saturday marked the 69th consecutive game Wright-Foreman has scored in double figures, matching Lew Alcindor on the all-time Division I list. Admittedly though, Wright-Foreman never had to drag Bill Walton and Bob Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes. To put that feat in perspective, when Wright-Foreman was last limited to single digits, Barack Obama still occupied the White House.

“I think he can [play in the NBA],” Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich said of Wright-Foreman in the offseason. “He’s got to prove it this year. To play in the NBA there are some areas he has to prove to the NBA people that he’s capable of doing, whether it’s defending or whatever it might be. To be in the NBA you have to have an NBA skill. Justin is an NBA scorer. Does he have the other things? That’s what he has to prove this year.”

Most indicative of Wright-Foreman’s intense level of production however is the fact that he now sits just 194 points shy of 2,000 for his career despite recording just 44 total points during his freshman campaign in 2015-16. Should Wright-Foreman break that 2,000-point threshold, he would become just the eighth player in program history to do so.

“Everything is a learning experience,” Wright-Foreman said during the offseason. “My freshman year, I really couldn’t play defense and my confidence was really low. Then everything just started to sink in, everyone was on my back telling me everything is going to get a lot better, so that’s really what it was. I just had support from my teammates telling me to stick with it.”

So yes, Wright-Foreman has undoubtedly been incredible during his tenure with the Pride, but how does he fit in with consideration to the Haggerty Award, given annually to the top Division I player in the New York metropolitan area? When it comes to that race, there are three horses in the starting gate: Wright-Foreman, Seton Hall’s Myles Powell, and St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds.

Ponds is admittedly the frontrunner for the award, and would be the first player since Hofstra’s Charles Jenkins to repeat as Haggerty winner. Jenkins took home the honor following the 2008, 2009, and 2010 seasons, and is one of just three players to win the award three times. St. John’s remains the flagship program in New York City, and with a current record of 14-1 -- and the one loss due to a controversial late-game whistle against Seton Hall -- the Red Storm have garnered national attention. Ponds undoubtedly benefits from that attention, and has earned it leading the Johnnies in scoring (20.4 points per game), assists (6.0 assists per game, top-30 nationally), and steals (2.7 steals per game, top-10 nationally). Due in part to the balance of the Johnnies’ lineup, Ponds’ 33.9 minutes per game and 83.3 percent share of St. John’s total minutes is the lowest of the three main candidates. Additionally, Ponds picked a poor moment to have a down game, as he scored just eight points on 2-13 shooting in the Red Storm’s controversial loss to Seton Hall.

Powell warrants inclusion simply for leading Seton Hall to early success in a season which was projected to be a rebuilding year for the Pirates. The Trenton native poured in 28 points to power Seton Hall’s upset of then #9-ranked Kentucky in early December before kicking off Big East play 2-1, and leads Kevin Willard's team with an average of 22.2 points per game. Unlike Ponds and Wright-Foreman, the perimeter game is not Powell’s strength. His 37.9 percent rate on three-pointers is the worst of the three, though he makes up for it by connecting on nearly 60 percent of his attempts inside the arc, along with an 86 percent mark from the free throw line. For the season, Powell's scoring average is up from a mark of 15.5 points per game last year.

Wright-Foreman’s 26.7 points per game ranks third among all Division I players nationally, and the senior has come to be known as an iron man on Long Island. Wright-Foreman rarely left the court last season while playing 94.8 percent of his team’s minutes (third nationally), and that trend has continued this season. The senior averages 36.4 minutes per game, and has accounted for 92.7 percent of Hofstra’s minutes this year. Additionally, Wright-Foreman has become deadly from beyond the arc, leading these three candidates with a 42.7 percent average on three-point attempts. His 85.4 percent average from the charity stripe has helped Hofstra become the top free throw shooting team in the nation, and his 59.5 percent effective field goal percentage also leads this group.

There is often spirited debate over the top player in the New York metro area, and this season is shaping up for one of the best conversations yet. As each team begins its trek through conference play, these three names will be the ones to keep your focus on in the race for one of college basketball’s top honors.

But while Ponds and Powell will get the national spotlight in the Big East over the next two months, the best of them all may be stationed on Long Island.