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Last season was full of surprises, and London Perrantes has to be near the top of that list. The California player came in to Charlottesville with little fanfare and many didn't know what to expect from the 6-2 point guard.
What they got was one of the most solid first year performances in recent Virginia history. London was unflappable. He saw the court, could read defenses, and predicted his teammates' movements. Commentators such as Bob Knight, Jeff Van Gundy, Digger Phelps, and Dick Vitale sang London's praises throughout the season.
Perrantes saw action in all 37 games, starting 33. His season numbers are impressive, shooting 38% from the floor, 44% from beyond the arc, and 86% from the charity stripe. Considering he was 6-22 (27%) through the first ten games, a lot of Virginia fans may have thought that they had another non-scoring PG threat a la Bub Evans. Coach Bennett insisted in post game press conferences that London could shoot, and man did he prove that as Virginia hit their ACC slate.
London made 21-41 (51%) of his three point attempts through the 18 league games. His hot hand forced opposing teams to pay more attention to him, which in turn opened up Joe Harris, Malcolm Brogdon, or the bigs down low.
More impressive than his late onslaught of 'can't miss' shooting, was London's ball handling skills. He finished sixth nationally (third in the ACC) with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, but his conference mark of 4.5 was tops in the league. As a first year. A FIRST YEAR! In fact, Perrantes was so impressive against Notre Dame, the ACC Digital Network made a 'Top 3 Dishes' compilation video to showcase his work.
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His performance last season earned him a spot on the All-ACC Freshman First-Year Team, and ensured that this season he wouldn't be sneaking up on anyone. His #CaliSwag will be essential in providing stability on the offense and he's already shaping up to be the leader of this team down the road.
The nation has taken notice, too.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>. <a href="https://twitter.com/London_Tyus">@London_Tyus</a> on Bob Cousy Award Watch List. Award honors the nation's top point guard - <a href="http://t.co/T9IOH4l1rm">http://t.co/T9IOH4l1rm</a> <a href="http://t.co/UvfRmPNWvN">pic.twitter.com/UvfRmPNWvN</a></p>— UVa Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/UVAMensHoops/status/529732505470259201">November 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
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While he won't be playing tonight due to a violation of team rules, look for London to build off of his incredible first year campaign. Oh, and London has changed jerseys to number 32 (previously Darion Atkins).
The Stats:
Position: Guard
Height: 6-2
Weight: 191
Nickname: Cali Swag
Best Performance Last Season: vs. Miami with 15 points on 5-5 shooting (4-4 behind the arc), four assists, and three rebounds
Twitter: @London_Tyus
Best Three Pointer Made to Prove You Have to Play Defense on Him: Looking at you, Trevor Cooney
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/London_Tyus">@London_Tyus</a> drills the deep three against #4 Syracuse <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UVA?src=hash">#UVA</a> <a href="https://t.co/zqSFFJONDx">https://t.co/zqSFFJONDx</a></p>— UVA Sports Vines (@WahooVines) <a href="https://twitter.com/WahooVines/status/529790393177485312">November 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Most Likely To: Have the announcers butcher his name. Per-ahn-tez? Peer-ant-ease? Per-ent-ez? London. Just go with London.