Champion makes use of more time
Graduate transfer proves productive in extended minutes
The skills have been there, but the playing time wasn’t. Once coach Will Brown realized that he didn’t need to coddle his graduate transfer from Loyola (Md.), Chuck Champion has shown the University at Albany basketball program that he can be an asset.
Champion, a 6-foot-4 guard from Philadelphia, missed most of last season at Loyola because of a knee injury. He was limited in the preseason by a foot injury, so he averaged less than 10 minutes through Ualbany’s first six games.
Brown said he recognized before last weekend’s games against the New Jersey Institute of Technology that “maybe we can hit the fastforward button” on Champion’s court time. In the Great Danes’ two victories, Champion played 46 ½ minutes, contributing 23 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
“It’s allowed me to get a feel for the game, being out there for a good amount of time without coming out in bursts or going in in bursts,” Champion said Wednesday. “It gave me a chance to settle a little bit, get pretty comfortable.”
He has played three positions for Ualbany (3-5 overall, 3-3 America East), which returns to game action Saturday and Sunday at New Hamp
shire. Champion has made the most impact at point guard, spelling starter Jamel Horton while helping on the scoring and rebounding fronts.
“I wouldn’t make it so much about me getting a break, but it just gives us a whole new dynamic,” Horton said. “Now I can play with Chuck in the game, or he can come sub me and play with him and Tone (Antonio Rizzuto), him and C.J. (Kelly), and just give us different looks. It makes us harder to guard because him playing off the ball and playing at the point is like two different aspects of his game.”
“At Loyola they run a hybrid Princeton offense, where guys are playing multiple positions and in different spots,” Brown said, “so we knew he had to be a fairly intelligent basketball player to operate within the framework of that system. I like his versatility both offensively and defensively.”
“Chuck is probably one of the most important pieces off the bench,” teammate and roommate Jarvis Doles said. “He can do so much. He can run the one (point guard), two (shooting guard) and three (small forward) for us. He’s probably one of our best on-ball defenders, and Chuck is also unselfish as a player and as a teammate on and off the court.”
In three seasons plus nine games at Loyola, Champion
started 63 of 96 games, averaging 26.2 minutes and 8.3 points per game.
“For the majority of my years at Loyola I was strictly off-ball, mostly two (guard),” he said. “I would run some one here and there, but this is definitely the most that I’ve been in at the one position, playing the one, knowing the plays from the one and actually getting a chance ingame to run from the one. I like it a lot so far.”
Champion has averaged 5.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 13.3 minutes per game, numbers that should go up in the immediate future.
“Every game he seems to be more comfortable,” Brown said, “and he’s a guy that helps us with something that we’ve needed to improve, another guy that can create some plays and get the ball in the paint . ... I’m happy with the progress he’s made, with his health, and also in a short time with what he’s doing on the court. I’m pretty confident as long as he stays healthy, his best basketball is still ahead of him, and that bodes well for us.”