Stephon Marbury clears air on Darius Acuff Jr. comparison
Arkansas freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. has taken the country by storm in recent weeks, though those in tune in college basketball have known about him for a while.
The Detroit native has broken record after record and is the single-season scoring leader at Arkansas with still at least one game left to go. He’s drawn comparisons to many NBA point guards, like Damian Lillard, Allen Iverson, Chris Paul and Stephon Marbury.
Specifically, after every breakout game that Acuff has played this season, noted college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein tweets “So much Stephon Marbury in Darius Acuff…” while also noting he is the best point guard to play for John Calipari.
Marbury’s game has been the most talked about in comparison to Acuff, who is averaging 23.3 points and 6.5 assists this season. An Instagram post on Tuesday denoted a quote from Carmelo Anthony, where he said this.
”He’s like this age’s Steph Marbury.”
At the time of writing this article, the post has 258 comments. Some agree, some have other comparisons. But there’s one comment that sticks out more than others.
”He’s better,” Stephon Marbury’s official account commented. “He has the size that separates!”
ALSO READ: Born For Basketball: The backstory to Darius Acuff Jr.’s rise with Razorbacks
Acuff is aiming to be the first player in the SEC since Pete Maravich to lead the SEC in both scoring and assists.
If Marbury’s own admission isn’t enough, former Razorback and NBA legend Joe Johnson, also known as “ISO Joe,” agreed with the post and had one comment:
”Facts!” With a fire emoji afterward.
Marbury enjoyed a 13-year career in the NBA after his time at Georgia Tech, and averaged 19.3 points and 7.6 assists per game. He played for the Knicks, Suns, Nets, Timberwolves and Celtics.
At Georgia Tech, Marbury played one season where he averaged 18.9 points and 4.5 assists per game on shooting splits of 45.7%/37.0%/73.8%.
Acuff and the Razorbacks will aim to slay the giant that is the 1-seed in the West Region, the Arizona Wildcats, on Thursday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, in the Sweet 16. Tipoff is set for 8:45 p.m. CT and the game will air on CBS.
Between March Madness, spring football, baseball and softball, plus the upcoming basketball transfer portal in April, this is as jam-packed time for Arkansas Razorbacks sports and a prime time to subscribe to HawgBeat.com.
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