Iona Is The Sexy Tournament Upset Pick...One Of Their Best Players Is On The Team Because ASU Dumped Him For Stealing A "Taken" DVD From Wal Mart

…

I’m sure you’ve heard about the Iona hoops team by now. After they beat Monmouth in the MAAC Championship to get an automatic berth, I said they were definitely a team that would make some noise in the tournament. Apparently that wasn’t a very unique opinion because a few hours later every sports site on the internet was slobbering over them.

How’d they get so good? Well, AJ English is a beast and their best player. But another crucial pickup? Jordan Washington. 6’8″ transfer, averaging 14 PPG despite playing less than half the game, second on the team in scoring, leads the entire nation in % of possessions used, 3rd in the entire nation in offensive rebound rate.

What happened to him at Arizona State though? Why’d he transfer?

Arizona State has parted ways with recent 2015 basketball commit Jordan Washington following his reported arrest in Ottumwa, Iowa for fifth degree theft according to sources directly familiar with the development.

A 6-foot-8, 280 pound post player at Indian Hills Community College, Washington committed to ASU while on his official visit to the school at a dinner on Sept. 5, but will not sign with the Sun Devils now. ASU will look to fill the scholarship spot elsewhere.

Washington was booked on Sept. 11 for allegedly shoplifting two DVDs from the Ottumwa Walmart according to the Ottumwa Post. The DVDs were “Curse of Chucky” and “Taken.” The total value for the items was $17.84. [ASU]

Awesome. One of my favorite movies of all time. No, I take that back, it’s not a movie. It’s a film. It’s a cinematic masterpiece. Great taste.

So he’s a film buff. Also has a passion for the game. His emotions are “volcanic“:

On the spectrum of emotions, Jordan Washington borders on the volcanic.

The 6-7, 261-pound junior from Pathways College Prep carries an incendiary energy to the basketball court, capable of going off at any time.

“When I bring all that emotion, it gives my teammates more intensity to play with,” said Washington, who has put his small school in St. Albans, Queens, on the basketball map while burnishing his own credentials as a major college prospect.

A fiery guy who loves Liam Neeson films? Sign me the fuck up.

Beating Iona in the tourney?