AROUND THE NATION
March 10, 2010
Lone Star Scoring Machine
 As
the Southland Conference Tournament prepares to tip
off in Katy, TX, one of the nation's most
underappreciated talents could see his college
career coming to an end.
Marquez Haynes has been an absolute stud for
UT-Arlington, but barring a tournament championship
for the 7th seeded Mavericks, his days of playing
for free could be over before the weekend.
On Tuesday he was named the league's Player of the
Year following a fantastic regular season in which
he averaged 22.8 points per game.
The senior guard from Irving, TX is just the second
Maverick player to be so honored. Albert Culton won
the award in a UT-Arlington uniform way back in
1982.
Haynes actually started his college playing career
far away from the hardwoods of the Southland. As a
highly touted Rivals 150 recruit at Irving High he
signed with Boston College in 2005.
During his two seasons as an Eagle he started three
games for Al Skinner and had four double digit
scoring efforts. But he never could find his comfort
zone in Chestnut Hill.
"The flex they ran didn't really highlight my
strengths as a player," said Haynes. "My strengths
are my quickness and my athleticism and doing damage
in transition. The focus of their offense was more
halfcourt, and I felt like I could go somewhere else
and find a style of play to suit me better."
It also didn't help that the BC coaching staff
envisioned a role for him that wasn't exactly what
he wanted to do as a college player.
"They saw me as being a defensive stopper, but I
wanted to develop my all around game," he said.
Upon the decision to leave BC in 2007, Haynes took
peeks at SMU, Tulsa and Iowa State as possible
transfer destinations. But he quickly got a warm and
fuzzy feeling about heading back home to play for
UT-Arlington.
His old high school teammate Tommy Moffitt was on
the team and Haynes had previously been recruited by
Maverick head coach Scott Cross during his high
school days.
"I trusted the coaching staff at UT-Arlington and
they really needed me, so it was a good fit," he
said.
At this point, anyone familar with Cross's coaching
background might be scratching their heads. Why,
these people are asking, would Haynes go to a school
running the Princeton offense?
After all, that style can be as deliberate as the
flex offense at BC that he wanted to get away from.
But I'll let Haynes elaborate on the finer details.
"In this offense there's more freedom for me as a
player and there are more transition opportunities,"
he said. "I've been able to use more of my skills
here."
With an inexperienced team around him, Haynes has
taken on much more of the scoring load this season.
As a result his scoring average has jumped a full
six points per contest from last season.
However, Haynes is far from being a chucker with no
conscience.
His 48% shooting mark on the season is nearly off
the charts for a perimeter player. That percentage
is better than that of either Houston's Aubrey
Coleman or Oklahoma State's James Anderson, who are
the only two Division I guards currently scoring at
a higher per game clip.
In addition to his Southland leading scoring
average, Haynes also ranks in the top ten in the
conference in assists, steals and 3-point field goal
percentage.
Despite hitting some recent bumps to conclude the
regular season, Haynes likes UTA's chances going
into Katy.
"I'm so confident in this team, I don't think anyone
wants to play us," he said. "We take so much pride
in our defense, and if play hard on that end, we
have a chance in any game."
With the chances to watch this terrific college
basketball player dwindling down to none, don't feel
too bad that you missed out. You'll have many more
opportunities to watch him in the NBA during the
next few years.
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com. Check out
John's blog
LonelyTailgater.com.
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