Canes Hoops Player Profiles: Garrius Adams

In an effort to keep even the most hardcore Miami fan up to date on their favorite players, SOTU will be running a Player Profile series. In these posts, our writers will profile two players from each position that they think should get more face time. They will recap their previous year, or in some cases, preview what may be to come. That way, when the season get's here, you hopefully will have a new found love for the team on the field.

[Garrius Adams] - [Senior] - [Guard/Forward] - [6'6'', 200 lbs] - [Apex, North Carolina]

Under Frank Haith, Miami had a North Carolina pipeline going on. Haith was able to land Adams, Daniels, Julian and Reggie Johnson from the tobacco state. Out of the four, Adams was the highest rated recruit as he was ranked as high as the 83rd best player by ESPN in the class of 2009. Adams chose Miami over schools such as South Carolina, NC State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Adams had a shaky start to his Hurricanes career, he played in 32 games, which was tied for most amongst freshman (Reggie Johnson), but he couldn't really find his touch. He shot 32% from the field. Adams, however, started seven games as a freshman. Adams sophomore season is probably his best year to date; he played in 36 games for the Canes and got the nod in the starting five, 24 times. He averaged 7.6 points per game and saw his field goal percentage increase to 39%; he also recorded his career-high in points during his sophomore season with 16 points against UNC Greensboro. Junior year was an up-and-down year for Garrius, he started the year off playing his best basketball, but a lower extremity injury forced him to miss 14 games during January and February. He was a starter to begin the season, but after he returned from surgery, he really didn't find his early-season form. We all got glimpses of how good of a player he can be during junior year, however, as he scored 15 points in one game against West Virginia, but showed his rebounding abilities in games against Tennessee Tech and Ole Miss. Adams led the team at least once in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. For his original senior season, Adams underwent knee surgery after having battled knee problems for his entire junior season and the staff decided to red-shirt him last season.

Garrius Adams has had a roller coaster career at Miami, but entering his fifth-year on campus and his senior year on the court, I think he's ready to emerge as the team's number one option. Word out of most practices last season was that Adams was playing really well against last year's starters, and sometimes he would be dominant. Shane Larkin was recently asked on Twitter who he believed was the best player on the UM roster and he responded with Adams, and Shane knows basketball.

I expect a great season from #25 and I think he'll be close to averaging double-digit points as he tries to establish himself as the leader of this young Canes team this season. But most importantly, I hope Adams can stay healthy and finish his career on top. If you want more of a comparison of the type of impact Adams can have this season, you can take a look at Garrius' good friend, Julian Gamble.

Much like Adams, Gamble had to deal with a ton of injuries throughout his career, but it all seemed to click his senior season. If Adams can put it all together this season it would make for a lot of happy Canes fans.