Wisconsin basketball freshman player profile: Steven Crowl

While the official start date of the 2020-2021 college basketball season is still up for discussion, we here at Bucky’s 5th Quarter are champing at the bit for hoops to start and have decided to get our returning player profile series going again. Over the next two weeks we will profile all of the returning players and then the week after that we will profile all of the incoming freshmen on the team.

The next freshman up on our player profile series is freshman big man Steven Crowl.

Position: forward/center

Height: 6-foot-9

Year: freshman

Hometown: Eagan, Minn. (Eastview High School)

Recruiting info: Class of 2020, three-star recruit according to Rivals and a four-star recruit according to 247Sports, No. 244 nationally according to the 247Sports Composite. Other offers from Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Northern Iowa and South Dakota.

Player overview: A prototypical Wisconsin inside-out big man, Steven Crowl is a stretch shooter who has demonstrated improved abilities around the rim as well. As a senior in high school, Crowl averaged nearly 27 points and 12 rebounds per game, and shot almost 60% from the field. He is Eastview Senior High School’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, and those two skills should afford him a chance to fit in nicely in Madison.

His strength currently is his shooting touch, but he also can move pretty well for a player of his size. On his film, His footwork pops on the defensive end where he does a nice job with screens. Crowl was also a very good passer at the prep level, leading his team with over four assists per, something that should align him nicely with the swing offense.

Crowl has reportedly been one of the early standouts in practice for the Badgers, and his blend of size and shooting prowess give him some of the best potential of any player in the 2020 recruiting class.

Role on 2020-21 team: Micah Potter, Nate Reuvers, Aleem Ford, and Tyler Wahl should snag the lion’s share of the work in the post, but Steven Crowl has huge upside and he should be a fun player to watch develop over the next four years, regardless of whether he plays this season or opts to redshirt.

With a bevy of frontcourt options in front of him there isn’t a lot of playing time up for grabs at the moment, but either Crowl or fellow Minnesota native Ben Carlson will likely play minutes this year. Both players have somewhat similar games, so head coach Greg Gard might want to spread scholarship numbers out a bit and redshirt one of the two freshman forwards. A years worth of experience could be really beneficial considering that Potter, Reuvers, and Ford are all set to graduate after this season. Early indications give Crowl a fighting chance to work his way into the rotation in some form.