UT men out to build off last season’s successes

Jared Sizemore/IC

The University of Toledo men’s basketball team went 15-0 at home in 2013-2014, the first undefeated home record the Rockets have boasted since the 1966-1967 season. UT returns four starters from last year’s squad.

How do you replace Rian Pearson?

It is a simple question, but the answer might not come easy for the newest version of the University of Toledo men’s basketball team.

Statistically, the challenge is daunting enough. Pearson graduated with sole possession of sixth place in UT history with 1,589 points scored during his three-year career as a Rocket.

The three-time All-Mid-American Conference guard led UT last season with 28 double-digit scoring games, contributing 498 points and leading the team to a school-record 27 wins and Toledo’s eighth-ever MAC regular season title.

But Pearson’s contributions last season, as well as his absence this year, have to be measured by more than just stats.

“Losing Rian [Pearson,] we lost a great deal of energy — both positive and negative energy — but it was energy,” said Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk. “We’ve got some guys that have played with more energy and a sense of urgency.”

Even with other players stepping up, the Rockets understand that there are big shoes yet to be filled.

“You can never really replace guys like [Pearson],” said UT senior guard Justin Drummond. “We just have to try to build on what we have now and just be the best team we can be.”

Fortunately for the Rockets, Pearson was the only starter they have to replace this season.

Drummond is back, as well as senior guard Juice Brown, senior forward J.D. Weatherspoon and junior center Nathan Boothe — all starters from the squad which last season posted an undefeated home record.

Behind those four men is where this UT squad really shows improvement over last year. The Rockets enter the 2014-2015 campaign with a lot of depth, enough that Kowalczyk predicted ten to eleven players taking the court for serious playing time each game this season.

“I think the pieces that we have gained are going to help us immensely in many different areas,” said sophomore guard Jordan Lauf. “Guys stepping up, getting better over the summer, the freshmen coming in and helping us out, we’ve just got a lot of different guys that are willing to step up and fill [Pearson’s] shoes and be ready to fill big minutes.”

The main man tasked with taking Pearson’s place on the depth chart is Lauf’s fellow sophomore guard Jon Jon Williams, who started a few times last season.

Williams, however, isn’t looking to replace Pearson. Instead, he is looking to make his own mark on a team hunting for its first NCAA Tournament appearance in almost 30 years.

“Rian Pearson, he’s a great player,” Williams said. “He has a real high motor and I’m not sure too many people can fill the void [he left].

“My job is to just go in and play as best as I can play, give 110 percent night in and night out, do whatever the coach needs me to do to help get the win.”

Whether or not Williams’ 110 percent is enough to replace Pearson’s offensive production, the Rockets’ main goal for the new season is to improve on the other side of the ball.

According to Drummond, defense is what kept Toledo from winning the MAC Championship game and earning an automatic invitation to the NCAA Tournament.

“We have so many weapons offensively,” he explained. “We try to just focus on things we are not great at, which is defense, and we have been getting a lot better.”

Defensive consistency will be key for Toledo this season, particularly in some of the more challenging non-conference games they have scheduled.

“Last year we had some good moments defensively; I just thought we were too inconsistent and simply just had too many mistakes,” Kowalczyk said. “It wasn’t from a lack of effort, it wasn’t from a scheme point of view it was just mistakes. We’ve got to correct those mistakes.”

Perhaps correcting those mistakes and replacing Pearson will be all that Toledo needs to not only get close like last year, but also finish what they want to accomplish this season.

“We had a very good season [last year] and obviously are very disappointed in how we played in the championship game, particularly in the second half,” Kowalczyk said. “It doesn’t diminish the type of season that we had. I’m not happy with how we played for a fifteen-minute stretch, but overall in the season I think we got better.

“I think we learned from it and we are moving forward.”