Crow playing a big part of Kats' success
2/18/2010 7:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
"Solid, consistent, great work ethic, strong, and mostly he is doing for us what we envisioned him doing," said Sam Houston men's head basketball coach Bob Marlin when asked how he would describe junior forward Josten Crow. "He's the glue."
This is Crow's third season as a Bearkat, and he has stepped up helping the Bearkats to their best start in 23 years in the Southland Conference. SHSU is 11-0 and has climbed to No. 74 in the NCAA Division I men's basketball RPI rankings, the highest Sam Houston has ever been this late in the season.
Crow is from Houston where he attended Westfield High School. He led Westfield to a 36-1 record in 2006, reaching the regional semifinals, and was named as team "Defensive Most Valuable Player". Crow then attended Naval Academy Prep School his freshman year where he averaged 22 points a game and helped lead the squad to 10-10 season record before transferring to Sam Houston.
"Having gone to Prep a year before he came to Sam really benefitted Josten, he was a year older and a year stronger and was able to come to us and really do great things," Marlin said.
Last season, Crow had a minor set back and missed the first eight games of season after spraining his MCL during a scrimmage against Rice. The two-year letterman bounced back and the 2010 season has been his first as a starter.
"I'm not going to say there is a disadvantage to starting, but coming off the bench you can see the flow of the game and how the calls are being made, all in all though it has been a smooth transition," Crow said. " Stepping in has been very comfortable, I've been playing with these guys for a long time and was able to get a good amount of playing time last year where I learned how they all play."
Crow says that one of the most important factors of helping the team is to build the camaraderie of the team, to become better teammates and better people. Crow has shown leadership in the arena and in classroom, making him one of the three captains.
"He's really done a solid job for us and has been a leader both on the court and in his approach in the classroom," Marlin said. "Josten is the kind of athlete that knows what he wants, and will work to get it."
Marlin has also compared Crow to former Bearkat Shamir McDaniel who was named Academic All-Southland Conference two years in a row and was started in 55 games during 2006 and 2007. When asked what his thoughts were on Marlin's comments Crow was honored.
"I talk to Shamir frequently, and I really did learn a lot from him. Being a first-year player sometimes you just can't get it quite right and having him to go to was such a big help. He was a team captain and someone I looked up to," Crow said. "It is very flattering of coach Marlin to say that, Shamir was a huge part of our team and a leader so to be compared to that I am very honored."
Crow and Marlin are both looking forward to the rest of the season continuing to stay undefeated and pushing for a conference title. The Bearkats will be on the road Saturday at UTSA in San Antonio.
