Former Normandy High basketball standout Anthony James lived out the dream of any college basketball player last weekend in Cedar Falls, IA.
The 6’2″ junior guard drove the length of the floor and hit a step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his Northern Iowa Panthers a dramatic 65-62 victory over No. 12 Creighton last Saturday night.
James’ buzzer-beater was the No. 4 play on ESPN Sportscenter’s Top 10 Plays of the night last Saturday. It was a big-time shot.
James was a scoring phenom throughout his high school career at Normandy, where he played for coach Malcolm Hill. He averaged more than 20 points a game for the Vikings. I’ve seen him do that step-back move plenty of times at Normandy.
Despite his scoring prowess, Anthony was not heavily recruited out of high school by Division I schools. Northern Iowa came into the picture and made an offer to him late in his senior year. After taking a redshirt year as a freshman, James became an offensive sparkplug off the bench for the Panthers’ team in 2010 that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, which was played here in St. Louis.
As a sophomore last season, James led UNI in scoring at 12.4 points a game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range. As a junior this season, James is averaging 13.5 points in leading the Panthers to a 16-9 record.
It was cool to see a local player like Anthony come through like that on a national stage against a nationally-ranked opponent.
Cameron hits 2,000
Congratulations to Cardinal Ritter College Prep senior Cameron Biedscheid on scoring his 2,000th career point last weekend against Hazelwood Central in the Red Out Shootout. Biedscheid finished the game with 39 points, including 31 in the last 11 minutes in Ritter’s 69-68 loss to the Hawks. The 6’8″ Biedscheid is currently averaging more than 32 points a game. Biedscheid followed that up with a 40-point performance on Monday night in the Lions’ 87-73 victory over Trinity.
Cooper leads NWMO
Former Jennings High standout DeShaun Cooper is enjoying an excellent junior season at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, MO. The 5’7″ Cooper leads NWMO in scoring at 13 points a game while shooting 85 percent from the free throw line, which is tops in the MIAA. Cooper has led the Bears to a 17-3 record and No. 22 ranking the NCAA Division II national polls. Cooper was the MIAA Freshman of the Year in 2010 and was a Second Team All-MIAA last season as a sophomore.
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