Dylan Cardwell

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

Last year as a freshman who did not play his Senior year in HS, many though of him as a project.  He had the size to be an SEC Center but there were a lot of questions. What I saw last year was a young man with a true Centers body who played hard, with tremendous enthusiasm, and ran the floor well for his size. He showed signs of talent but also showed why some thought of him as a project. As the year went on he became a solid back up Center strong enough to hold his position against big physical centers and he brought instant energy and became a fan favorite.  He was good at timing flashes to the post to get dunks but really did not have a down low came that you could count on and was not a threat as a shooter. 

I believe Kessler will help turn this young man into a real SEC center. Practicing against Kessler will be a learning experience, I also believe that Pearl and company had him  work on Post Offense during the off-season, making your self available for a pass in the post, drop step, turn around jumper, and pass back out and reset for better position.  I also have a feeling because he plays for Pearl they have worked on his 3 point shot as in todays game a big who can hit the three and also has a down low game is a huge asset to any team. I don't expect huge numbers this year because of Kessler and Smith getting more touches but I expect his presence will be felt more and more as the year progresses and by next year we will have a true SEC center whether Kessler stays or goes pro.

[gravejd 3,267]

I'm on the Cardwell hype train as well! I thought he played great last season for a guy who missed his senior year of basketball. His offensive game needs work of course but i think a lot of that was that we did not have anyone who could really feed the ball down low outside of the 15ish games Coop played. So with that i think a lot of our guys struggled offensively last season because we did not have a true PG most of the season. Cambridge is another one that i hope looks much better this coming season.

I look for Cardwell to play a big role on this years team. He'll be the muscle down low that can bang with other bigs. I love his hustle and the joy he has for playing the game. I hope he can tone down the excitement a little....cause you gotta stay controlled out there on the court. But you can't teach size and hustle and want to and he has all those things. I think we got the steal of all steals signing him last season. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

@Maverick.AU and I were both really high on him all of last year. I believe that Cardwell is the one player that will benefit the most from having a full capacity crowd to feed off of. He's going to be really freaking good off the bench this year and will be a nice change for when Kessler is sitting.

[toddc 13,194]

 

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

The young man is definitely a fan favorite and you can see why. He is always upbeat and full of energy.

[Rednilla 5,383]

NICE!!!!!!!!!

[tgrogan21 6,198]

The guy is an entire mood! Love it!

[AUlurker 178]

He stayed behind after the event and took a ton of pictures with fans. He was in the crowd for most of the event.

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

If there ever was a "protect this man at all costs", this is it

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

He seems like a great kid and certainly is easy to root for. That being said, I hope he develops as well to be a guy that is strong on the boards, defense, screening and rolling and being a physical presence. The area he needs to improve the most is free throw shooting. A guy who can bang, draw fouls and make free throws would be great. He is a role guy for sure and seems to be bought into that which goes a long way for team chemistry.