In-Depth Look at Troy Trojan big man Jordon Varnado

NCAA Basketball: In-Depth Look at Troy Trojan big man Jordon Varnado

By Bryan Mauro | Jun 26, 2018

GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 17: Jordon Varnado #23 of the Troy Trojans drives against Jayson Tatum #0 of the Duke Blue Devils in the first half during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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GREENVILLE, SC – MARCH 17: Jordon Varnado #23 of the Troy Trojans drives against Jayson Tatum #0 of the Duke Blue Devils in the first half during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Why Should You Know Jordon Varnado?

Last season started out like the previous seasons had for Varnado. In fact, he was in the middle of what looked to be a breakout year. Everything changed after a game against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers when Varnado broke his foot and was going to miss a lot of time in the season.

Entering this season Varnado is hungry and has put the time in honing his craft on the floor and in the weight room to come back even better than ever.

When Varnado is on the floor, he is given the autonomy to move freely in the offense. Coach Cunningham knows that the senior forward can score from anywhere on the floor, and lets him shoot threes and run the offense alongside Miller.

Troy is at their best when Varnado is actively hunting offense, and scoring at will, within the flow of the game. The forward is not a sharpshooter from three by any means, but he is more than capable of making any team pay if they do not put a body on him.

In the NCAA tournament against Duke, Varnado has his initial coming out party on the national basketball scene. In that game, the forward poured in 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Troy would go on to lose the game but Varnado let the Sun Belt conference know he was there to stay for two more years and was only going to get better.

If the last name Varnado sounds familiar, that is because the younger Varnado had an older brother Jarvis who is a former NBA player and college star at Mississippi State. The older Varnado was known more for his defensive presence as he holds the all-time record for blocks by any college player in basketball history.

The younger Varnado is a solid rebounder and defensive player but is at his best when he is scoring and playing within the flow of the game. Even while getting hurt and missing significant time last year, he still averaged 18 points and 7 rebounds as a junior. With a full healthy season under his belt, he is one of the top 3 players in the Sun Belt conference and will show everyone outside the league what the hype is all about.