Riding out the roller coaster
Terrance Arceneaux’s baptism into college basketball can be measured by the sweat dripping from his jersey.
“Up and down,” University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said as he motioned his arms to describe what a first-year player typically goes through. Arceneaux, the Cougars’ talented freshman guard, is no exception.
“For the first time in his life, he’s getting better through sweat equity,” said Sampson, whose second-ranked Cougars (15-1, 3-0 AAC) play at Cincinnati (11-5, 2-1 AAC) on Sunday. “There’s been times in Terrance’s workouts that I’m sure he didn’t break a sweat. There’s no doubt he breaks a sweat now.”
Finding the right time to get Arceneaux and other young players some playing time remains a work in progress. One of those moments came Thursday, with the Cougars comfortably ahead the entire game in an 87-53 blowout win over SMU. Arceneaux, a 6-5 guard from Beaumont, had his most productive game in a month with 10 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
It was a similar story for Jarace Walker, the Cougars’ uber-talented freshman forward, who matched a career high with 23 points and added 10 rebounds. Redshirt freshman guard Emanuel Sharp had six points and 10 rebounds in nearly 24 minutes off the bench.
“It’s like planting seeds and watering them,” Sampson said. “They are going to grow from that.”
It’s been a learn-on-thego season for Arceneaux, who has gone from the high of a career-high 15 points against Oregon when preseason AllAmerican guard Marcus Sasser got into early foul trouble to not seeing the court in games against then-No. 2 Virginia and UCF. In UH’s only loss this
season to Alabama, Arceneaux was scoreless on one shot attempt in eight minutes of playing time.
“When we play certain teams, I don’t play our freshmen a lot,” Sampson said. “Not because they’re not good players. They’re not ready. Terrance wasn’t ready to go in that environment in a neck-and-neck game against Virginia. I didn’t see any freshmen out there for Virginia. They had all older guys.”
Sampson said the growth of players such as Arceneaux depends on making mistakes.
“As the season goes on you gain confidence and gain trust in them and you put them in games,” he added.
Whether that comes Sunday is uncertain. Cincinnati’s
three-guard lineup includes two seniors (Landers Nolley II and Mika Adams-Woods) and one graduate (David DeJulius). Cincinnati had long been one of the top teams in the AAC, although the Cougars have become the league’s torchbearer the past five years and won six in a row in the series.
“Cincinnati was the bell cow because of their consistency,” Sampson said. “They were always good.”
Whether or not Arceneaux sees playing time Sunday, Sampson can see progress one drip at a time. Practice is designed to be tough, and Arceneaux gets his share in matchups against Sasser, Jamal Shead, Tramon Mark and Mylik Wilson, a defensive-minded transfer from Texas Tech who is redshirting this season.
“There is no breather there,” Sampson said. “Whoever is on him, he’s going to have to earn it.”