Wisconsin’s starting center Steven Crowl had some mighty big shoes to fill entering the 2021-22 season.
There were a ton of vacated minutes needing to be filled at the five due to the graduation of seniors Nate Reuvers, and Micah Potter – with very little experience available to fill the void.
Greg Gard needed the sophomore center to make the jump from lightly, if ever used big man, to starting center for the Badgers in just his second year with the program.
The raw talent and upside were never in question with the 7-foot-0 center.
Crowl possesses all the tools you could ask for from a big man in a system like coach Gard’s.
The only reservation was in how he would hold up physically in a post dominant conference like the Big Ten.
Early in the season, it was trial by fire for the former three-star recruit. While adapting to his new starting role he struggled with confidence, and took some lumps along the way.
However, his teammates challenged him to be more aggressive, and as a result the player we’re seeing on the floor now is a vastly improved version of the one we saw back in November.
How it’s going
The Minnesota native is becoming a more consistent scoring threat, having scored at least nine points in eight of the Badgers last ten contests.
As a matter of fact, the Badgers are a perfect 10-0 this season when the sophomore big man reaches double figures in scoring.
Through the team’s first 14 games, Crowl was just 10-for-35 (28.6%) from beyond the arc. Since then he is a much more respectable 9-for-25 (36%) on 3-point attempts.
Additionally, over UW’s last 10 games Crowl is averaging 9.7 points on 57% percent shooting from the floor.
The in-season development we’ve seen from Crowl is both a testament to his hard work, and coach Gard’s ability to develop his players and further accentuate their strengths.
The player we’ve had the pleasure of watching over the course of the last month and half has grown leaps and bounds since the season began.
Crowl has become more assertive down on the low block, and shown the ability to score the ball at a higher rate around the rim because of his improved footwork.
— Badger Notes (@Badger_Notes) February 12, 2022
— Badger Notes (@Badger_Notes) February 12, 2022
I’ve been pretty vocal about Crowl having an incredibly high ceiling, and he’s finally beginning to scratch the surface of what he’s capable of becoming.
His continued development is important to both the season at hand, and the future of the program. The early returns on the sophomore big man are highly encouraging.
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