Confidence. Some have it, some don’t. For freshmen, the step-up to the college game takes time, commitment, and a stroke of confidence. ASU’s freshman guard JRob Croy has a healthy amount of that confidence. The swagger was on display throughout the second half.
While in transition, senior forward Paulius Murauskas pushed the ball upcourt to the right wing. After pulling and swishing a second straight three-pointer — this time from in front of the Desert Financial Arena logo on the right wing — Croy turned the bench with a smile and hand raised before getting playfully shoved to the ground by an embracing Murauskas.
“When they double Paulius, I’m going to get wide open threes, Croy said, on what helped him get open.
“It just comes from the work. You put so much time and energy into this game and I think to be able to show it on the court gives you so much joy.”
After an historic night against Northern Colorado for one individual, Arizona State coach Randy Bennett seemingly laid out a challenge to future opponents: Double Murauskas. Hofstra, valiant in their attempts to do so, failed to extinguish the embers of a lights-out display from downtown and the freshman impact of Croy as ASU cruised to an 85-63 victory at Desert Financial Arena Tuesday night.
In the absence of a couple of key players such as sophomore forward Jonathan Griman and senior forward Emmanuel Innocenti, Bennett and Co. needed others to emerge. Croy, alongside his comrades, rose to the proverbial bar. He finished the night with 18 points en route to being the Sun Devils’ second-highest scorer on Tuesday.
Croy ended the night as the most efficient player garbing the maroon and gold. Despite being tied percentage-wise with junior center Ben Defty, Croy ended the night 6-for-9 from the floor, 4-for-6 from three and a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. The Riverside, Calif. native was also one of two Sun Devils who collected a steal while also hoarding four boards — one offensive.
What’s more impressive than the standard freshman impact game is how quickly Croy compiled it into his freshman career, especially considering the factors of last season. He missed his entire senior season, a moment he described as one of the lowest in his life.
Bennett, although knowledgeable about the freshman guard, couldn’t help but wear a slight grin when talking about Croy and the impact made in the second half.
“Exceptional,” Bennett said about Croy’s big 3-minute stretch in the second half. “JRob put on a flurry, and Foxy (Joel Foxwell) was in on that too. That was an impressive little eight minutes. He’s getting better and better, and he will keep getting better.”
Before even stepping onto a college court for the first time, Croy had a secret weapon early on: his father. Now the assistant coach at ASU, Rick Croy was a mainstay and key component for Bennett’s staff from 2010-2013 at St. Mary’s before taking the reins as California Baptist’s head coach.
Croy’s — both of them — ties to Bennett and the system established played a pivotal role in flipping commitment from St. Mary’s to ASU. While prepared for part of the challenges of college basketball, JRob credited his dad for being, in a sense, two-sided.
“It’s super fun,” J. Croy said in response to being able to play on the team his dad coaches. “I try not to take it for granted because not many people get to do this. I would not say it is easy all the time, but it is super fun. He does a really good job being my dad off the court and then on the court, coaching me as hard as he possibly can.”
The Arizona State continues its homestand when they return to Desert Financial Arena on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. MST against the UL Monroe.
“Is that double OT? God, I hope they play all night,” Bennett said with a smile in response to being told UL Monroe was in an overtime game with TCU.
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