AUBURN | Dylan Cardwell does a lot for No. 1 Auburn. Much of it is noticed, and some unnoticed.
The fifth-year senior is having a career-year on the court and is bringing plenty of energy and leadership on and off the court.
“He's everything you would want in a player — a glue guy,” said senior Miles Kelly. “He keeps the team together with his leadership, his voice, his communication. His energy, it's infectious. He's everything you would want and a great teammate to have.”
Being a glue guy can be hard to define but national basketball analyst Evan Miyakawa has come up with list of the nation’s best based on the players that have a much bigger impact on their team’s performance than their stats would indicate.
He has Cardwell ranked second nationally.
“I attribute a lot of great teams to having great glue guys,” said Cardwell. “Draymond Green was a great glue guy for the Warriors. Chris Bosh, obviously, he's a star, superstar, a great glue guy for the Miami Heat.
“And so, for me, I love it. I love being important, obviously, being attributed as a glue guy and being top two in the country, that means the world to me just to be appreciated like that. I love this locker room, and we have potential, and I want to be able to help us stick together and hopefully win the national championship or compete for one. And so, it means the world to me to be a great glue guy. I take no shame in it. As long as we're winning, I'm grateful for this role.”
Cardwell is averaging 5.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, all career-highs, this season. He’s also averaging 1.7 blocks, which ties his career-high. His first two double-doubles came this season including 10 points and a career-high 13 rebonds in last Saturday’s win at No. 23 Ole Miss.
“Dylan Cardwell impacts winning in a huge, huge way,” said AU coach Bruce Pearl. “He does it on the inside, he does it on the perimeter. He can guard one-through-five. Defense and rebounding win championships. And we've got the best in our league.”
Auburn, 21-1 overall and 9-0 in the SEC, hosts No. 6 Florida Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at Neville Arena is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
