Dylan Cardwell didn’t play his senior year of high school due to Georgia high school transfer rules, but now that he’s a few games into his Auburn career he’s already shaking the rust off.
Throughout the season Cardwell has continued to receive more playing time and, against Troy, he played the most minutes he’s played all season.
He scored a career-high eight points in his 20 minutes of playing time.
Head coach Bruce Pearl liked what he saw from the big-man.
“I just think he's glad to be out there, you know. I mean, he didn't play last year, and so the rust is sort of shaken off,” Pearl said. “He moves as well as any big man in the country, and he's enormous. I mean, he's a giant fella, but he's an athlete and he's got control of his body. He's got strong hands, strong finisher, and he's just getting better. And he wants to be great. I mean, he wants to be coached, and he cares. But our front line is young. They are young. We've got to do a better job of getting those guys more touches. I mean, he was 2-for-2. Stretch was 2-for-3. We've got to get the ball inside to them more.”
Even though Cardwell may not always stuff the stat sheet, his energy and passion is always visible on the court.
“Well I think it just comes from the joy of the game, you know? I just get hype. I just love basketball that much,” Cardwell said about his energy on the floor. “And then my boy CMo [Chris Moore] always gets me hype. CMo brings the energy in practice, so I have to compound the energy he’s giving me. So it’s just like, being around lit people, I just get lit, too. I can’t wait to play in front of the jungle one day.”
For Cardwell, he’s just happy to be back out on the floor after missing all of last year.
“It’s just amazing to be back out there again. I missed it a whole lot,” Cardwell said. “I feel like I haven’t missed a beat since being out here, but I’m just so glad to be out here. I love basketball. I watch it all the time. I just love seeing the ball go in the basket. I just love being on the court. So I’m just grateful to be back on the court, because it hurt not being able to play with Sharife last year.”
Cardwell and Auburn have one more non-conference game left against Appalachian State on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 1 p.m. CST before SEC play kicks off on Dec. 30 against Arkansas.
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