JaKarr Sampson Wins Second Straight Big East Rookie of the Week

By Jared Mintz
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sport

Rant Sports has shown JaKarr Sampson a lot of love lately – being one half of St. John’s dynamic scoring duo – and on Monday, he earned himself some more of it.

The St. John’s freshman forward was named Big East Rookie of the Week for the second straight week, the third time he’s won the award this season. Although his team only played one game, a 77-60 win over St. Francis (New York), Sampson scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, giving him his second straight double-double, and third of the season.

Sampson has been St. John’s second best scorer – after sophomore D’Angelo Harrison – and their top rebounder on the early season, in which the Red Storm are an impressive 8-3. The number 31 prospect in the 2011 recruiting class, Sampson has been a terrific asset on the defensive end, blocking 1.6 shots per game, and being one of the best rebounders in the entire Big East.

“Poise is the thing that comes to mind the most when thinking about JaKarr,” said head coach Steve Lavin a couple of weeks back, when Sampson broke free of his early season struggles. “As we’ve gone along in the past couple weeks, he’s settled down and is letting the game come to him…his maturity is developing right before his eyes.”

Sampson seems to have adjusted to the speed, and difficulty of the college game, and is fitting in great on a team with solid perimeter play with Harrison, Phil Greene and Amir Garrett, as well as the nation’s most feared shot blocker in fellow freshman sensation Chris Obekpa.

If the Red Storm continue to play this well, you can expect a lot of it to be because of Sampson, which should directly lead to him winning this award quite a few more times this season. There’s lots of basketball left to be played, and it seems Sampson’s only getting better.

For hoops, hip-hop and other random sports and pop culture commentary, follow Jared Mintz on Twitter @JaredMintzTruth

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