What can be said about the play of senior guard Jeremy Granger this season? He leads the team in scoring, assists, steals and minutes played.

He has truly been playing like an All-Ohio Valley Conference selection.

Averaging 17.0 points per game, Granger has shown he can score with the best players in the OVC. He has an incredible knack for getting to the foul line. Where it is almost a certain make. Granger is one of the best free-throw shooters in the nation at 86 percent.

Granger has a very nice pull-up jumper that has almost become his signature shot.

To make himself even harder to guard, Granger added the three-point shot to his bag of tricks last season. Last year he made 38 percent of his three-point shots. This year his shooting numbers are a little down (36 percent for the year), but I expect those numbers to go up as the season wears on.

Granger said he likes to be the one to make plays in late game situations, but he is completely confident that his teammates can knock down shots. His facilitating and driving give guys like freshman guard Joey Miller and senior guard L.C. Doss lots of open shots from behind the three-point line. Granger’s ability to find people in the paint has led to the emergence of sophomore forward Alfonzo McKinnie.

Granger averages a career-high 4.3 assists per game and is the main reason why Eastern’s offense ranks third in the OVC.

To compliment his array of offensive skills, Granger is a very solid defender. He told me he prefers guarding the team’s best player and that he is always up for the challenge.

Defense is not easily quantified by statistics, meaning a lot of good defenders don’t get recognition because they don’t get blocks or steals. Granger does lead the team in steals at 1.1 per game, but it is his off-ball defense and talking that make him a great team defender. What else would be expected from the captain of the team? Nothing.

The most important stat that he leads the team in is minutes played. Head coach Mike Miller knows the importance of having Granger on the floor and he is for 34 of the 40 minutes.

Granger has great conditioning and makes his teammates better when he is on the floor, so he should be out there as much as possible.

Jeremy Granger is one of the most exciting players to watch in the OVC and should be a no-doubter to make an all-OVC team at seasons end.

Rob Mortell can be reached at 581-7944 or at rdmortell@eiu.edu.