Terrier Tuesday: John Papale

If there was ever an obvious choice for Terrier Tuesday, it's John Papale. I couldn't imagine myself feeling so strongly about a freshman deserving it this early on in a season, but I've never been happier to be wrong. After men's basketball's come back and overtime win on Sunday, two things are clear. One, men's basketball is ready to compete this year. After a rough start, they're ready to put it behind them. A good confidence boost like that one will serve them well while they get closer and closer to opening up America East play at the start of next year. Second, it's that some of the woes I had from losing our top players can be quelled with this new class.

And of this new class, I am most excited to see where John Papale is going to take us.

Image via One-Bid Wonders

First of all, kid hasn't even started a game yet this season. It's not surprising when you take a look at who else is on the team. If you're like me, you kind of expected him to go through the motions this semester, if not this year. Make it into games yes, but not even be close to a game changer. Yet in 10 games played thus far, he's got 89 points, averaging just under 9 points a game. It's clear that he's still an important part of this squad considering he's averaging over 27 minutes a game, good for fifth on the team.

But, admittedly, I had a hard time noticing him. I mean, not more than I expected to. He's never played straight up poorly, not to my recollection. But I still wasn't able to get myself past the "oh yeah, he's one of the freshman" mentality. In his defense, the only freshman I've been able to break that barrier for is Maurice Watson Jr.

Then Sunday happened. And Sunday changed everything.

For those not at the game, I'll give you a quick recap. The game was not really the best for either squad. But what was bad for them was good for us. Because even though neither team played spectacularly  they played at the same level. Meaning the entire game the score was deadlocked. Meaning each and every play was important to both teams. Meaning the last few minutes of that game were grounds for a heart attack.

I'm the first to jump on the D.J. Irving band wagon. I think he's got some serious skills and can come up in big situations. But when the game was winding down the Terriers were down 50-49, Irving was given the ball. There were just a few seconds difference between the shot clock and the game clock. I had faith in Irving but, well, stuff just happens sometimes. He was playing great all game and there was no reason to believe he wouldn't have made that layup, but he didn't.

That's when things got really interesting. Quinnipiac ran the ball down the other end and we fouled them with something like 10 seconds remaining. Of course they made both shots, making the score 52-49. Time was winding down in the Terrier end. There were 5.4 seconds left on the clock when freshman Papale shot the ball up behind the line. Ask anyone, and they'll tell you it didn't seem like that ball was going to go in. But it did and Papale reminded the crowd why you stay until the last possible minute.

In overtime, the Terriers dominated and there really was no question that we were going to come out on top. Although, yeah, those five minutes were still gut wrenching. Anyways. In that five minutes, Papale would score another five points while the team scored another 17. In those five points was another 3 pointer and I tell you, not a single doubt was in my mind that he'd make it.

It was clear from the beginning of the season that we had a lot of freshmen talent. We all knew it'd take a bit for them to get settled into the college game. But after this game, I can make a confident prediction that Papale has done more than settled. He's got his footing and he'll be a big player come the second half of the year.

But what really was impressive about the kid is that while he's got the talent, he's not going to let that go to his head. In basketball in particular (and this is why I hate the NBA), everyone knows who the best guy on the team is because he's cocky as anything. Even if you've never watched the team before, if you watch an NBA game you'll know within a few minutes who's good. And it's not usually because of his plays but because of his big mouth and over exaggerated gestures. I'm not saying Papale is the best on the team, but I'm saying he's definitely a solid player who's real important to this team. He was relied on for a big situation and he came through. That type of thing can really get into people's heads. But in the overtime, I saw no evidence of that. Papale continued to play his game just as he had before the game tying shot.

Even in Papale's post game comments, it became clear that he's not that prototypical big-headed basketball star. To hear him admit that he hasn't been playing his best the past few games speaks volumes to that. I'm excited to watch where he will go in the next half of the season because of that- because he'll let his actions speak for themselves, not his mouth. Now I can't wait until the next time he goes up for a big shot. I know that I'll have that same confidence in John Papale that I do in the other guys on the team.