Derrick Williams' big statement

Based on what we've seen so far this season, it would be really easy for me to tout 2010-11 as the year of the little guy.

First there was Kemba Walker dropping a spectacular performance in Maui, one that lifted Connecticut from unranked to the top 10 in the span of a few days. Not to be outdone, Duke freshman Kyrie Irving has been amazing in his own right, up to and including his masterful 31-point performance against Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Xavier guard Tu Holloway is also playing absolutely out of his mind.

Walker, Irving, and Holloway are all listed between 6 feet and 6-foot-2, and they've all been magnificent. In a normal season any player of the year discussion would start and end with performances like these. But this hasn't been a normal season. In this year of the little guy there's a big man who, so far, has outperformed all those pesky little guards. If he can keep it up, he'll have rewritten our expectations for what a featured big man can do for his team.

That big man is Derrick Williams of the Arizona Wildcats.

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John Gasaway

ESPN Insider

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• ESPN Insider college basketball contributor
• First began covering college hoops in 2004
• Has written for Basketball Prospectus and the Wall Street Journal