In last year’s NIT Championship campaign there were seven different Cardinal players who saw significant playing time under head coach Johnny Dawkins. Of those seven players, two will be lost in 2012-13 due to graduation. A third senior saw minutes when the situation or game plan called for it, and a fourth played mainly garbage minutes or was used in backup roles when an injury occurred. We fill you in on their details in the order of importance to the program below.
- Josh Owens – After playing just garbage minutes as a freshman in 2007-08, Owens saw a major increase in playing time as a sophomore the next year. Poised to build on that solid foundation, Owens was forced to sit out the 2009-10 campaign due to a private medical condition. While some speculated he would never play basketball again, Owens returned for what would be the best season of his college career, averaging 11.6 PPG and 6.5 RPG in just over 27 MPG. His scoring and rebounding stats were almost identical in his final season with the Cardinal, but 2011-12 saw a more aggressive Owens, mainly on the defensive end of the floor. Andy Brown, Stefan Nastic, and Jack Ryan will all be competing this October to try to fill Owens’ shoes, with Nastic being the current slight frontrunner. As for Owens, the forward/center did not receive an invite to either the NBA Combine or Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, and while he went undrafted, he impressed enough in team workouts to earn a spot on the Charlotte Bobcats Summer League roster. Owens didn’t see any action in the team’s first game, but scored six points and grabbed two rebounds in its second summer competition.
- Jarrett Mann – Mann still earned solid minutes as a senior, but due to the emergence of freshman star Chasson Randle, he saw a steep decrease in playing time compared with his sophomore and junior years. Due to Randle playing as a slash-and-score one, it appeared at times that Mann didn’t seem comfortable in his new role, which would led to indecisiveness both in passing the ball and scoring.
- Andrew Zimmerman – After transferring over from Santa Clara, Zimmerman’s first season on the Farm in 2009-10 turned out to be his best. He took some of the minutes left behind by the injured Owens and averaged 4.4 PPG — not bad for playing just 17.5 MPG. Since then his game has taken a slight drop, only seeing action when the game plan calls for it. Last season, when Dawkins would take a break from the three-guard offense, Zimmerman was the one who got the call, and he usually answered it nicely. Against California on March 4, the 6’8″ senior scored 13 points and grabbed three boards in a season high 25 minutes. Four days later, once again against the big Golden Bears, Zimmerman scored 22 points in as many minutes to go along with seven rebounds.
- Jack Trotter – Trotter mainly saw garbage minutes as a senior, but every once in a while he would get big minutes for no apparent reason. He played 22 minutes and scored 11 points against Fresno State, then only played a total of 30 minutes in the next six games. With the signings of Rosco Allen and Grant Verhoeven, it’s probably a good thing that Trotter will be moving on.