Unless you are from Norwich and watch the Purple Tornado play basketball year in an year out, Jon Foulds was probably not on your radar to start the 2010-2011 season. Foulds, like every other returning NHS player this season, came off the bench a year ago to fill a small niche.
Foulds was brought into games to give Norwich some offense, and he did have one 17-point outing a year ago. Still, Foulds and his 4.6-point-per-game average last season gave no indication of his true capabilities.
“To be honest, I think we (the coaching staff) had higher expectations this season for Jon than he did,” said Norwich 25th-year head coach, Mark Abbott. “It’s always been a confidence issue with Jon. I don’t think he realizes how good he is, and not many have the talent and ability he has. He plays the game, in my mind, a lot like Nick Brunick played – and Nick was a heck of a player for us.”
Foulds was an all-tournament selection for Norwich in its Tom Schwan Tournament victory earlier this month. Of late, though, the senior forward/guard has shown a depth and well-roundedness in his game that is producing mind-boggling numbers.
In last week’s victory over Susquehanna Valley, Foulds stuffed the statistics sheet to its limit with 16 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and four blocked shots. He followed that up earlier this week with 19 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists against Johnson City. In each game, Foulds, a slim 6-foot-3, was matched against much bigger men, but fought through the size disadvantage to dominate the defensive glass.
In addition to averaging over 14 points per game this season, Foulds is pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds, blocking two shots a game, picking up two steals per contest, and dishing out over four assists. He leads Norwich in all of those categories accept assists – he is second – and is our leader this week as Smith Ford, Giant’s Warehouse/Evening Sun Athlete of the Week.
“Last year, Jon knew his role was considerably different,” Abbott said. “We didn’t need him to handle the ball or rebound. He was a scorer for us. Through the evolution of players here, he had to become more multi-faceted. The last two games, I don’t think he has come off the floor.”
Although slightly built in comparison to most inside defenders, Foulds seems to have that nose for the rebound, and he averages 10 defensive rebounds per game. Foulds’ ability to shine on the defensive end is in large part due to the maturation of Foulds over the past season. “The old Jon, if he didn’t start the game shooting the ball well, he let that affect his entire game,” Abbott said. “We’ve had several discussions with him about that, and I think we’ve got the point across to him. We need him in so many more ways other than just scoring. He’s a rebounder, a defender, and a playmaker for us.”
In just six games for Norwich this season – all wins – Foulds has transformed himself from a relative unknown on the local basketball scene to eliciting a comparison to one of Norwich’s all-time scorers, Brunick. “You have to go back to Nick and Brian Collier nine or 10 years ago to find anyone from Norwich putting up the type of statistics that Jon is in so many areas,” Abbott said. “This season is definitely Jon’s coming-out party.”