Lucas: ‘Feet wet,’ Carlson and Crowl ready to step into new roles
October 15, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Sophomore forwards from Minnesota gained experience in different circumstances
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Based on the box score alone, specifically minutes played, Steven Crowl and Ben Carlson appeared on first glance to be after-thoughts in Wisconsin's convincing 85-62 win over North Carolina last March in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament.
Despite playing sparingly, it was still material to their future development.
The matchup, itself, was notable starting with the venue, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, a house of horrors historically for the Badgers during the regular season. Even though they were on Big Ten turf, the No. 8 seed Tar Heels were still favored by a couple of points.
The final outcome, thus, was eye opening. Especially since Roy Williams was undefeated in opening games – 14-0 at Kansas; 15-0 at North Carolina – and fielded the No. 1 rebounding team in the ACC. With four players over 6-10 in the rotation, the Heels led the nation in cleaning the offensive glass.
But the Badgers prevailed on the boards, 37-34, and got 29 points from Brad Davison and 21 from D'Mitrik Trice in handing a loss to Williams in what was his swan song as a Hall of Fame head coach. Williams, the winner of 903 games and three NCAA titles, announced his retirement on April 1.
In this context, Crowl and Carlson will be able to say that they were a small piece of basketball history. More relevant to their own personal growth as college players was their first exposure, however modest, to March Madness. The experience served them both well for different reasons.
"Just getting my feet wet was the biggest thing,'' said Crowl, a freshman from Eagan, Minnesota.
After playing in 11 regular season games, a total of 33 minutes – and no more than a minute in each of his last seven appearances between December 22 and February 21 – Crowl was summoned from the bench at 8:50 of the first half with the Badgers clinging to a 20-16 lead.
It didn't take long for the 7-foot Crowl to make a positive impression by grabbing an offensive rebound to extend a possession that was punctuated by a Nate Reuvers dunk. After subbing out at 6:42, he returned for the final minutes of the game and contributed another offensive rebound and assist.
On whether that small taste of the Big Dance bolstered his confidence, particularly given the frontline strength of the Tar Heels, Crowl said, "I would say it did. Just having those three minutes in there, it was kind of … what's the right word for it ….''
Baptism came to mind.
"In practices leading up to North Carolina,'' said UW head coach Greg Gard, "we were trapping the post and Steven was playing on the scout team. We had a hard time containing him. He's so calm with the ball. He doesn't get sped up. And he really has good vision and a good feel.
"He actually gave us more trouble with the post trap than North Carolina did.''
Carlson had no impact on the outcome. He played less than a minute. But he played. And he practiced. That was the point. Injury sidelined him for a majority of the season. North Carolina was his first game action since December 15 when he logged one minute against Chicago Loyola.
"It was hard being hurt, especially in a year with COVID, that just made everything worse,'' said Carlson, a freshman from Woodbury, Minn. "We had a really good group of guys and I really liked hanging out with them. But it was really hard not being able to play for a couple of months.
"I wasn't able to do anything really. I still think I made the most of it. But being able to come back from that, and even practice, and to get in that game and beat North Carolina, one of the best programs in the country, it was pretty cool.''
It was also important "just getting there to experience it'' because of his ordeal, according to Carlson. After playing 17 minutes and scoring 13 points in the season opener against Eastern Illinois, it began to go downhill for him physically. In mid-December, he was forced to shut it down until March.
"I had worked really hard coming into my freshman year and that first game felt really good and I was hoping I'd continue it throughout the year,'' he said. "But it was a blow that I got hurt. It was a lot different sitting on the sidelines not being able to play. It was just a different perspective.''
Carlson never felt detached from the team, which so often can happen in these situations.
"I definitely have to give a lot of credit to Henry – he was always there for me the whole way,'' Carlson said of athletic trainer Henry Perez-Guerra who retired last summer. "He was always looking out for me and trying to do what was in my best interests and what was best for my health.
"I remember the first practice I got back. I couldn't do live stuff. But just being out there with the guys – doing drills – that's what I love to do. I love playing basketball. After two or three months of not doing anything, just shooting around with my teammates was a great feeling for sure.
"Over that time when I was hurt, I got to know Henry really well and he was an awesome guy. He went to all my appointments and was really supportive. I definitely have to say thank-you to him.''
Crowl and Carlson played their high school basketball 30 minutes apart – Crowl at Eastview, Carlson at East Ridge. On Sept. 17, 2019, Crowl verbally committed to the Badgers via his Twitter account. A day later, Carlson did likewise. They were both AAU teammates on D1-Minnesota.
"We know that we play well together,'' Crowl said. "It's a big reason why we both came here to play with each other. I just think we both know what to expect. It wasn't like we had a big conversation about it (playing together). I'd talk to him or text him or he'd text me and then it just kind of happened.''
Both players look different than their senior class pictures. Take Crowl, for example.
"When I got here, I was about 205 pounds and now I'm 232,'' he said, citing a commitment to "just staying in the weight room and a lot of eating. It took a lot of effort to do that, but it paid off. Even when I went home, I would continue building on what I did here (under strength coach Jim Snider).''
After competing on the scout team in practice – matched largely against Reuvers and Micah Potter – Crowl came quickly to the conclusion, "They had a lot more strength than I did. Battling with them every day, I realized that I just have to get a lot stronger to play with those kinds of guys.
"Just seeing how physical this league (the Big Ten) was last year – adding weight this offseason was probably the biggest thing for me and just being more comfortable. The jump from your freshman to sophomore year is about comfortability and knowing what to expect and knowing what to do.''
As far as handling the weight, and noticing a difference in posting up, Crowl said, "You can tell moving people is a little easier. Getting position is a little easier. Just fighting for rebounds, stuff like that. Obviously, I still need to have more weight. There's a long way to go.''
Based on what he has seen so far out of Crowl on the block, Carlson said, "He's gotten a lot bigger. He's still really skilled and can pass really well. His biggest thing is that he's really patient which makes him hard to guard. He takes his time and he's so long, being a 7-footer, he's just tough to guard.''
Strength was also an off-season focus for Carlson, who noted, "Last year, I was around 215 pounds. This year, I'm pretty consistent between 225 and 228. I got in the weight room a lot and worked on my explosiveness. I worked on core strength.''
Another priority for the 6-9 Carlson was refining his 3-point shot.
"That's something I've definitely worked on a lot, and I think that it's going to open up a lot of stuff for me on offense, especially taking bigger guys off the dribble,'' said Carlson who played 1-through-5 positionally on the floor as a prep. "I've always had that versatility.
"Coach Gard has been talking a lot about rebounding and that's been one of my key things I've been doing throughout my basketball career. I've always been a good rebounder, especially on the offensive side. That's something I've always excelled at.''
Neither Crowl, nor Carlson has a handle on what their roles might be this season. While the fans will get their first look at the Badgers, and their retooled roster, during Sunday's Red-White scrimmage at the Kohl Center (4 p.m. tipoff), Gard implied that it was too early to make too many projections.
"They're both in the mix to get minutes – how many? – that is to be determined yet,'' he said. "Both have progressed from last year. I thought when Ben was healthy, he did some good things. You start to see some of that confidence grow in a young, big guy.
"When they feel strong … confidence comes with that strength. For both of those guys, it has been a little different. For Ben, it has been lower body strength. For Steven, the base is pretty good, but the upper body needed to mature a little bit more. Both have been on different paths.
"But they complement each other. I don't know how much they'll play together.
"I don't even know what it's all going to look like. But they bring different things to the table.''
So do so many of the new pieces to this puzzle, to this team, to this coaching staff.
"He brings a new energy to our team, a contagious energy,'' Crowl said of assistant coach Shariff Chambliss who has experience and equity in the Badger program as both a former player and video coordinator. "Like with the new guys coming in, the new faces, it's been fun to see all the smiles.''
Cautioning against anyone sleeping on the Badgers, Carlson said, "I think we're really talented, an athletic team with a bunch of long guys. Obviously, we don't have much experience. But once we get a couple of games under our belt, once we get going, I think we can do some really good things.
"We're going to be a lot better than people think.''
