By Ben LarrisonThe Daily Northwestern
Aside from the media guide, player introductions and his spot at the tip-off, there’s little indication that Vince Scott is a center.
Just take look at his numbers. The 6-foot-11 senior is second on Northwestern in 3-pointers. He has shot nearly as many 3’s as 2’s. Of his 59 baskets on the season, 24 have come from behind the arc. He’s tied for 11th in the Big Ten with a .400 3-point field goal percentage. And yet he ranks just third on the Wildcats in rebounds.
The classical center he is not.
“I sure as hell don’t look like a center, that’s for sure,” Scott said. “I mean, I’m guarding the biggest guy out there, I’m the biggest guy out there, but I don’t think I play like that … I don’t know if you look to me as a true center, back to the basket, but I guess that’s what I’m classified as.”
As NU fans have come to know over the past four years, Scott does not play the role of center in the traditional sense. The Phoenix native said that he used to be more of a standard big man, but the demands of coach Bill Carmody’s system transformed his style of play.
Instead of having the new center put on weight and fight down low as he might have at other schools, Carmody and the rest of the coaching staff asked Scott to work on his passing and shooting. It was this, Scott said, that helped make NU so appealing an option coming out of high school.
“Now, I’m the kid getting thrown around, I’m the kid getting dunked on,” Scott said. “Not necessarily that, but it’s completely different. I’ve sort of taken a liking to it.”
Over his four years at NU, Scott transformed from a high school center to a college ‘center,’ filling the role asked of him by the Princeton Offense. He went from 240 pounds, the weight at which he’s still listed, to around 210-220 (“If Vince Scott is 240 (pounds), the average SAT score at Northwestern is 1000,” teammate Tim Doyle said). He also started working more on his outside shot. After a shaky junior campaign in which he averaged just 3.0 points per game, Scott is becoming the unorthodox scoring threat that Carmody had envisioned when he recruited him.
Despite his improved offensive play, critics still harp on Scott’s lack of rebounding or presence in the paint. Scott claims that it is, at least to some extent, the product of an unusual system in a major conference.
“Sure you want a guy that can rebound, and I’m not the best rebounder – I’ll admit that – by far,” Scott said. “I guess that it’s highlighted in the Big Ten because every game you’re going up against a center who that’s all he does, and they bring in guys who do just that, just dunk the ball and rebound.”
Of course, the question still remains as to what to call Scott’s position. While still addressing him as a center, Carmody compared Scott to a point guard, saying that most of the offense goes through him and relies on his decision making, whether at the top of the key or down in the paint. Scott, meanwhile, called his play more like a power forward’s. Either way, the NU senior is certainly not a conventional center.
“I’m sure I’m really frustrating to a lot of fans, just the fact that I’m not the prototypical big man,” Scott said. “A lot of people aren’t used to that. I’m probably a four-man on most teams. But when I’m making shots and when passes are going my way, everyone’s going to be your friend.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
