Bright Spot on a Struggling Team

The University of Missouri men's basketball team is struggling through a three-game losing streak, and it faces a tough opponent this Wednesday in the University of Texas, who is ranked 7th nationally in the Associated Press poll. But that hasn't been able to stop Missouri's star guard Thomas Gardner from putting together an impressive season. Gardner, who is only a junior, is leading the Big 12 conference and is tied for 17th nationally in scoring this year with a 21.3 points per game average. He has now gotten some recognition for his efforts; over the weekend Gardner was named one of 30 mid-season finalists for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award, which is given to the best player in the nation.

Will Gardner win the award? Most likely not, he would have to have an incredible performance over Missouri's last 9 games, and more importantly, the Tigers would have to win most of those. But to get recognized as a finalist is very nice for Gardner, and the Missouri program. The last player from the program to make this list was Missouri legend Kareem Rush in the 2001-02 season. For the Tigers to be successful the rest of this year and on into the future they need to capitalize on the success of Thomas Gardner. For the rest of this season they need him to play well to win games, and for the future they need to tell recruits about the success they can have in the program. Also, it wouldn't hurt if Thomas Gardner returned to Missouri for his senior season. That would give the Tigers the best chance at winning basketball games next season.

Publish Date: January 31, 2006 in the Missourian.