Siena’s Nico Clareth changing jersey number, and a lot more
By Sam Blum LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. » There are a lot of things that seem different about Nico Clareth this season. For one, he’s not just a Siena captain. He’s acting like one too.
Maybe the symbol of that change, Clareth debuted a new number during Friday’s intra-squad scrimmage.
He bumped his number from 15 to 25.
“Just felt like it was time for a change,” the rarely-talkative Clareth siad simply.
He would later hint that Kobe Bryant was part of the inspiration. Bryant famously changed numbers mid-way through his career. Clareth often tweets about how Bryant is his idol. The high-volume shooting Clareth also seemingly mirrors his game off of the all-time great.
But Clareth seemed like a different player on Friday, even if it was just a quick scrimmage. When his team got down 18-10 in the first half, he lit into his teammates. Immediately the Gold team came back to win.
The junior was a lightning rod in the worst way last season. He got suspended once for three games. He left the team for seven games after trying to check into a game with jewelry on. He was a bad shooter, and missed some potential game-winning looks.
But he finished it off with an all-time performance against Monmouth. And is hoping that end of the year carries into a big-time campaign in 2017-18.
“It’s good that he’s like, ‘No, we have to play better, and I want to win.’ You need Nico’s emotion. Because Jordan (Horn) is kind of quiet. Roman (Penn) is very quiet. Prince (Oduro) is very quiet.”
Siena showcased some of their young pieces in that scrimmage. Jordan Horn and Roman Penn looked big-game ready. The Saints will rely on a slew of younger players to make this season successful. Clareth is the elder statesman. He’s the captain on a team this season, when he was basically the opposite of that last season.
Clareth said there was no real reason for No. 25. Just that it had a five in it. Next year, he says, maybe he’ll be No. 55. But as he simply said, this was about making a change. The number is just a reflection of the much larger change that he seems poised to make on and off the court. AUSTIN, TEXAS » During his 13 seasons as Oklahoma State football coach, Mike Gundy has built a reputation for producing dynamic offenses and less than impressive
The Associated Press