By Taylor Nigrelli
Sports Editor
Junior year provides quite a challenge for many college students. Classwork becomes more difficult, responsibilities increase and the terrifying “real world” begins to rear its ugly head.
For guard Jordan Gathers, with junior year will come added pressure.
Gathers started the final nine games of the 2011-‘12 campaign, a season in which the Bonnies advanced to the NCAA Tournament, losing to Florida State.
While he was expected to take on a large role last season, Gathers saw limited playing time early, playing 10 minutes or less in 10 of the first 18 games. During the final 11 games, he played nearly 22 minutes per night.
He averaged just over 15 minutes per game on the season but had a couple monster games, including a contest against Richmond where he exploded for a career-high 18 points on 7-7 shooting while playing a career-best 37 minutes.
Gathers said he would like to see more of the latter this season, but admits his playing time is in the hands of his coaches.
“I have to work harder on and off the court to get more playing time this season,” Gathers said. “But that’s the coaching staff’s decision, so I can’t do much about it.”
As is the case in most sports, the key to garnering more playing time in basketball is offseason improvement. Gathers spent the summer working on his jump shot and his ball-handling skills.
“I worked on being consistent with my jump shot,” Gathers said. “I came in here not really shooting the ball well, but as the years progressed, I’ve gotten better. And ball-handling too; just my overall game.”
Gathers’ improvement was not lost on his coaches. In fact, Head Coach Mark Schmidt said he thought Gathers showed some of the most improvement on the team.
“I think Jordan has made, if not the most progress, he’s among the top two or three kids,” Schmidt said. “He’s elevated his game. He’s gotten stronger. His skill level’s gotten better. His shot has gotten better.”
Gathers’ improvement on the offensive end is likely crucial to the team this year as it graduated 59 percent of last year’s scoring output. Although he’s averaged just 2.6 points per game for his career, Gathers is well aware that he’ll be looked upon to shoulder a heavier scoring load this season.
“I definitely know,” Gathers said. “We all come in and hope to take on a role to replace the guys that graduated.”
Gathers’ expected growth isn’t limited to his offensive game, however. As an upperclassman and the team’s point guard, he’s looked upon as a leader.
“They’re sliding me to the point guard position this year, so you have to be more of a leader,” Gathers said. “You have to be the engine that makes the car go. So I’m definitely taking on the leadership role and helping out the younger guys.”
Schmidt knows there’s a transition between player’s sophomore and junior years and he believes Gathers is ready to make the leap.
“Freshman and sophomore year, it’s hard to be a leader,” Schmidt said. “But he’s been through it. He’s been on an Atlantic 10 Championship team. He’s played in those types of games. He knows what it takes, and he knows what we coaches are looking for.”
Gathers’ best asset as a player is his ball-handling. He led the team last season with a 53 to 25 assist-to-turnover ratio. He attributes this skill to tireless practice.
“(I’m) working hard with my coaches and teammates just getting better,” Gathers said. “I’m just improving on all my deficiencies, and I think it definitely helps when the game time comes around.”
Like many of his teammates, Gathers doesn’t have any specific predictions or goals for the season. Instead, he’s focused on personal and team achievement.
“We just have to play every game like our last,” Gathers said. “We just have to play hard and give it our all and see how it turns out.”
