There is one individual statistic that is being dominated like no other this season.

Free Throws Made 
Diogu, Arizona State........136 
Mendez, Niagara..............95 
McGowan, Pepperdine..........94 
Roberts, Mississippi State...90 
Green, Oral Roberts..........88 

No one goes to San Francisco Giants games to see Barry Bonds walk. And no one goes to a basketball game to see a player’s ability to get to the line. But much like Bonds ability to draw walks, Ike Diogu’s free throws are a big reason he is so effective. Diogu has played in 74 games in his two-plus seasons in Tempe, and has been to the line in every one of them. The guy goes to the line a lot, and shoots 85% when he gets there. This season he’s made nine free throws per game. (By contrast, Kansas starter J.R. Giddens has played in 11 games this season and attempted a total of nine free throws.)

For some reason, records for made throws in a season are dominated by players from the ’50’s and ’60’s. If someone can clue me in as to why, you’d be my hero. The games were faster paced back then, and before 1973, all fouls involved the shooting of at least one free throw. But I don’t think that totally explains this phenomenon. In the modern era – since 1973 – here are some conference records for free throws made in a season:

Big East: Mourning, Georgetown 272 (1992)

WAC: Durrant, BYU 242 (1984)

Pac-10: Counts, Oregon State 237 (1964)

SEC: Stroud, Mississippi 233 (1980)

ACC: Laettner, Duke  225 (1990)

A-10: Brown, GW 221 (2000)

The Pac-10 record goes back to ye olde times, because I couldn’t find the modern record. Oh, wait – here it is…Diogu 243 (2004). Assuming ASU participates in just one Pac-10 tourney game and one postseason game, Diogu is on pace for 290 free throws this season. The NCAA record of 355, set by Frank Selvy in 1954, is out of reach even if Arizona State goes deep in the Pac-10 tourney and whatever postseason tourney they’ll be a part of. Nonetheless, it’s possible Diogu is on his way to establishing a new standard under the current set of rules.

(It should be obvious here that I only have records for six conferences and thus, there may be a better modern free throw season out there somewhere. I have no idea whether Diogu is on his way to a national record, but based on the sample I have, his ability to make free throws is certainly unusual.)

As for the rest of his game, here are Diogu’s averages on the season (rank through Sunday): 23.3 ppg (5th in the nation), 62.1% FGs (14th), 10.4 rpg (11th), and 2.7 bpg (21st), 84.5% FTs (not ranked nationally, but well above the national average of around 68%).

In Pac-10 play he’s been better so far: 25.3 ppg, 60% FGs, 11.0 rpg, 3.3 bpg, 20-32 FTs.  This is in road games against Arizona, Stanford, and Cal.

So who’s your pick for national player of the year?