Lucas: Crowl growing into bigger frame, role for Badgers
December 07, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Sophomore 7-footer has become key piece for Wisconsin
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Steven Crowl was handed a printout of a nine-year-old post from an Apple Valley-Rosemount (Minn.) website. Pictured was the Eastview boys fourth grade traveling basketball team that defeated Winona, 38-22, for the Minnesota Youth Athletic Services state championship.
Crowl didn't have any trouble identifying the smiling 11-year-old in the back row.
"I'm right there,'' he said pointing to the youngster wearing jersey No. 13 and holding up a state title plaque. "I don't really remember the game at all. But I remember all these guys. I'm still friends with most of them through high school and now … We grew up playing together.''
Crowl, the fourth grader, was not the tallest player in the team picture. That distinction belonged to Tate Machacek, a buddy to this day. By the time they reached their senior year together at Eastview High School, Crowl had spurted past him. He was listed at 6-11; Machacek was 6-6.
"I outgrew most of them in high school,'' said Crowl, a finalist for Minnesota's Mr. Basketball in 2020. "It was kind of just gradual. I know most guys that grow up to be seven feet have a lot of growing pains. It was more like two inches, two inches, two inches. I went from 6-4 to 6-6 to 6-8 …''
Today, he's a seven-foot sophomore center at Wisconsin. With the start of Big Ten play on Wednesday night at the Kohl Center – and the presence of Indiana's 6-9, 245-pound Trayce Jackson-Davis, a preseason All-American – Crowl may encounter some competition-induced growing pains.
"He's come a long way in just 12 months,'' UW assistant Joe Krabbenhoft said of Crowl who played only 39 minutes in 12 games combined last season. "A year ago, I didn't know how ready he'd be to tip it off against Big Ten opponents. Physically, he's still got a long way to go.''
But he also suggested his skill set and composure belies his age. Crowl is 20.
"He plays the game like a senior,'' Krabbenhoft said. "I know he doesn't finish yet at the rim. But he will when he gets stronger and bigger and older. He's getting to his spots. He's helping others within the offense. Defensively, he understands the schemes. He's picking things up. He's getting better.''
And, then he proclaimed with a hearty laugh, "It's steaks and milk shakes for Steven Crowl.''
To this end, Crowl has already gained nearly 30 pounds since arriving at the UW.
"He (Krabbenhoft) is always trying to get me to eat, but it gets tiring trying to eat that much,'' he said. "I eat everything which makes it easier. I think I have a good appetite. But it's hard to keep it on now when you're always running, always playing in games. Trying to keep that weight on is a big thing.''
Crowl is not yet at the developmental stage where he's throwing his weight around – all 234 pounds or less depending on the size of his last meal – but he's growing into his role at both ends of the floor. While averaging 9 points and 5 rebounds, he has scored in double-figures in four of eight starts.
"He makes the game so easy,'' Krabbenhoft said. "He just has a great feel for the game.''
And yet, he understands there is so much more growth needed, so much more to learn. And said so, "I'm learning how big just staying in the game is because when you get those two fouls (early) and you have to sit on the bench for the half, you're kind of out of it and it throws your rhythm off.''
Case in point: Providence. Crowl picked up two fouls in the first half and played less than seven minutes. Although he logged 17 minutes in the second half, he was out of sync and it showed. He made just one basket while battling with a grownup: 6-10, 260-pound Nate Watson who had 24 points.
The Badgers outscored the Friars, 35-29, in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome an 11-point first half deficit and they fell, 58-53, on Nov. 15 in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge at the Kohl Center. Playing without an injured Johnny Davis, it has been their only loss of the season.
When matched against the 23-year-old Watson, a veteran of 122 games, Crowl realized, "When you're guarding a guy like that, like I said earlier, you have to stay on the floor. I had a couple of fouls in that game and then you start thinking about not fouling. It's all mental. You have to fight through it.
"After you miss a few (shots), you're thinking about that, too. It's kind of a downhill spiral.
"But you just have to stay confident and stay true to yourself in that situation.''
Crowl's road roommate – fifth-year senior Brad Davison – has been helpful in that respect.
"It's great just learning from him because he has done everything you can do here,'' Crowl said. "We're always talking about basketball, talking about the game, watching film together, talking about our families. We get along pretty well and you learn a lot of the veteran tricks that he has.''
It's no secret what every first-year starter has to adjust to during their baptism to the Big Ten: the physicality. It has already been ingrained with Crowl, "You have to be physical every possession, every night. It's just about getting into that mindset before the game to be physical.''
Krabbenhoft has an acronym for the transition from nonconference opponents to league foes: BFS. "I like to say, 'Bigger, Faster, Stronger,''' he said. "In reference to Indiana, this is a grownup ballclub. They play a lot of juniors and seniors. And they're big and they're fast and they're strong.
"It's like a rivalry game now … every game. Every night out is like that in the Big Ten.''
The Badgers are coming off an impressive 89-76 win over instate rival Marquette last Saturday. Four players scored in double-figures: Davis (25 points), Davison (20), Crowl (15) and freshman guard Chucky Hepburn (15). Of Crowl's six made field goals, two were from beyond the 3-point line.
"I'm pretty confident, especially after the last game, knocking two down really helps,'' said Crowl who had made just one of his last eight from that distance the previous three games. He's now shooting 30 percent from the arc (7-of-23). He also had two triples against Green Bay and Texas A&M.
"You have to keep shooting even when they're not falling. You keep shooting until one falls and you see it going in. I didn't start shooting 3's until my sophomore year of high school. Once I started shooting them, especially my senior year, I got real comfortable on the perimeter. Picking and popping.''
Ok, Big Steve‼️🔥@steven_crowl's got 8 points and 6 boards for the Badgers, who rip off a 7-0 run to regain the lead!
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) December 4, 2021
WIS 32, MU 29 | 1:19 2H pic.twitter.com/EiUELmTOeM
On Jan. 11, 2019, Crowl, then a junior, hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime to lift the Eastview High Lightning past one of their conference rivals, Lakeville South. He also had a clutch block at the end of regulation and finished with a game-high 36 points in the 70-68 victory.
Crowl was challenged in the paint by Lakeville South's Riley Mahlman who went on to concentrate on football. As a senior, he was a four-star and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Minnesota. He's now a 6-8, 300-pound freshman offensive lineman on the Wisconsin football team.
"It was a good matchup between us,'' Crowl said, "because he was huge.''
It was not the first time that Crowl competed in basketball against a player who went on to earn a scholarship to play college football. In a 2017 Holiday Classic matchup, he crossed paths with Minnehaha Academy's Kaden Johnson, now a redshirt freshman outside linebacker for the Badgers.
"He was a really good hooper, a sneaky athletic guy, he could do a little bit of everything – rebound, set screens,'' Crowl said of Johnson who's presently carrying 233 pounds on his 6-2 frame. "They had Terry Lockett, too, who's a football player at Michigan State. They were loaded that year.''
Minnehaha Academy was big-time loaded with Jalen Suggs and Chet Holmgren.
"Jalen was really good at the time and Chet was a little younger and was actually coming off the bench, but he had a big dunk against us which kind of opened my eyes to him,'' Crowl said of Suggs who starred as a freshman at Gonzaga and is now playing in the NBA, and the 7-1 Holmgren, a current Zag.
Minnehaha beat Eastview, 81-69.
"The year after,'' said Crowl, who had 12 points, "they were even better.''
Minnehaha Academy won four straight state titles in as many trips. Moreover, in February of 2020, the Redhawks won, 73-64, at La Crosse Central. Suggs had 28 points, Holmgren had 18, Johnson had 11. The leading scorer that night was Johnny Davis, who had 42 points. His brother, Jordan, had 11.
Crowl agreed that it was not a reach to draw some comparisons between the two former All-State quarterbacks, Suggs and Johnny Davis. In the context of their basketball prowess, Crowl said, "Both are very athletic and can shoot it. They're very similar players.''
Obviously, Suggs is at a more advanced stage. He's starting for the Orlando Magic. But it doesn't take away from how Davis has grown his game from his freshman to sophomore season with the Badgers. He's averaging 20 points and has not scored less than 15 in any of his seven starts.
Growth is also the operative word for Crowl. Steaks and Shakes. Pick and Pops. And now here comes a steady diet of established bigs. Starting off with Jackson-Davis who Krabbenhoft labeled as an "incredible athlete with his speed, his pop off the floor and his skill set. He's a load.''
Crowl knows that his confidence and resiliency will be tested. Growing pains are inevitable.
But he promised, "We'll just try to learn from every game. Keep playing. Keep learning.''
Machacek and all of his fourth-grade pals would likely approve this message.
