The Badgers center hasn’t had the start he expected in his final year of college basketball.
The Wisconsin Badgers are headed into conference play on Friday, with their first game out of the break coming against the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Kohl Center, with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
It’s been an interesting start for the Badgers, who were one of the bigger surprises with an 8-0 start before enduring a rough three-game losing streak to tough opponents in the Michigan Wolverines, Marquette Golden Eagles, and Illinois Fighting Illini.
Now, standing at 10-3 heading into the new year, the Badgers will start their tough conference schedule on Friday, looking to get back into the AP Top 25 and have a better outcome in 2025 than they did last season with the end of their season.
Looking at the team, Wisconsin has gotten significant contributions from transfer guard John Tonje, who exploded to begin the season before slowing down recently over the team’s last four games.
Tonje has averaged 19.2 points per game, leading the team, while fellow guards John Blackwell and Max Klesmit, as well as forward Nolan Winter have all averaged double-digit points per game this season.
But, the one player who hasn’t seen the start to the season that he expected has been center Steven Crowl, who has averaged just 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds, while playing in just 23.6 minutes per game, which would be the lowest since his true freshman season.
Crowl has shot 48.9 percent from the field this season, but has really struggled from three, hitting only 23.8 percent of his shots from deep after connecting on 44.8 percent of his attempts a year ago.
There was a chance that Crowl could be the team’s leading scorer this year heading into the season. But, over the team’s first 11 games, the big man reached double figures just once, while shooting 43.2 percent from the field.
That led head coach Greg Gard to publicly call out his center to be more aggressive or be at risk of losing playing time, which has already been decreased this season.
The talk must’ve lit a fire under Crowl, however, as he took advantage of his opportunities against Butler, hitting 7/10 of his field goals and 2/3 of his threes en route to scoring 18 points, which ranked second on the team only to Nolan Winter.
Crowl did only play 17 minutes in that contest despite having only two fouls, as Carter Gilmore played 22 minutes and Kamari McGee saw 26 minutes of action. But, it was a positive to see the big man be aggressive offensively and finish well at the rim.
Then, in Wisconsin’s 76-53 blowout of Detroit Mercy, Crowl poured in 15 points on 7/10 from the field, once again using his size to score.
The big man hasn’t only needed to wake up offensively, but also defensively, as teams have picked on the Badgers’ duo of seven-footers to create space and find open shots off the pick-and-roll, as well as down low.
Crowl’s rebounding struggles have been highlighted as well, as the big man notably had zero rebounds in Wisconsin’s 86-80 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini before Gard publicly called him out.
His 5.2 rebounds per game would be his lowest mark since his sophomore season, and will be something to monitor going forward, as the Badgers need Crowl to be aggressive on both ends of the court to maximize the potential of their two-seven-footer duo.
And that’s why Crowl will have to find another edge when it comes to Big Ten play. With the conference schedule coming up, Wisconsin will need to prepare for the increased physicality, especially down low, with a number of talented big men in the conference.
When he’s on his game, Crowl is the X-Factor for Wisconsin. He can maneuver well around the rim, pass the ball well to create open shots, and shoot from distance.
But, he hasn’t been near good enough this season, even so to the point that Gard has looked to close out games and play crucial minutes with other options such as Gilmore and McGee.
If he can return to his old self, the Badgers have a true shot of making some noise this season, as they’ll then have a talented trio of guards, an emerging forward in Winter, and the necessary center in Crowl.