Welcome to A10 Talk’s Preseason Top 25 Player Countdown for the 2017-18 season. Each day, we’ll be publishing a new article, counting down our best 25 players for the coming season. Today, we feature #10 Otis Livingston II of George Mason.
Our Top 25 Player Countdown is a compiled list based on voting from our staff and writers from across the league. Thanks to the following for helping configure this year’s Top 25 Atlantic 10 Player Countdown:
Grant Labedz (@GrantLabedz), Mat Shelton-Eide (@MatSheltonEide), Grant Kelly (@GrantKelly07), Andrew Phung (@LoveRI401), By George (@ByGeorgeGMU), Davidson Recruiting (@DavidsonMBBRecr), Steve DiMiceli (@SteveDiMiceli), Rhody Rampage (@RhodyRampage), UMass Recruiting (@UMassRecruiting), Bona Blog (@BonaBlog), Petey Buckets (@PeteyBuckets), and UMass Ball Report (@theumbr).
What He’s Done
Last season, Otis Livingston II was the second-leading scorer for George Mason, averaging 14.3 points per game on 41% field goal shooting. Not to mention, he lead the Patriots in free throw percentage shooting almost 92% from the line. The rising junior has also shown the ability to take over any game, especially when he posted a career-high 29 points in a 2OT loss at Saint Louis last February.
In many ways, he is the glue player for George Mason. The whole offense runs through him, and he has shown the ability to be the go-to player when the Patriots are in need of a timely bucket. This year, Livingston II has a chance to go from “George Mason’s best player” to one of the “A-10’s best player.” Without Marquise Moore dominating the offense, Livingston II will be the undeniable star of the show in Fairfax.
What He’ll Do
If George Mason is to achieve what they are capable of achieving this season, it is going to run through their point guard. I could easily see Livingston II becoming the type of player to average anywhere from 18 to 22 points per game this year. On a young team with so much potential, Otis is the player who stands out the most, which is really saying something. Given how open spots 2-9 in this year’s league are, Mason’s ability to finish in the top half of the league will come down to Otis’ offense: both scoring and setting up his teammates.
Previously: #11 Shavar Newkirk
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