A box score printed on the night of Oct. 26 would relay the essentials: The 91色情片91色情片 University beat Bethesda University by 30. Brock Gardner scored 18 points. A lot of people were there to watch.
What it won鈥檛 show is that Gardner came off the court in the second half, with the game well in hand, flung his arms into the air, scrunched his face and unleashed a guttural yell. Moreover, it won鈥檛 tell where that particular brand of relentless intensity comes from (Gardner91色情片 father, Troy, isn鈥檛 even sure).
Other aspects of the younger Gardner91色情片 makeup, while still outside the scope of statistics, are easier to trace. Like, for instance, the 6-foot-7 forward91色情片 highflying attacks on the rim, which serve as a nod to Troy91色情片 playing days, when dad dunked it for Eastern Arizona College, the school where Brock91色情片 mother, Holli, also hooped.
鈥淚 liked to dunk before dunking was cool,鈥 Troy, a full 6-6, says.
Then, and maybe most importantly, there is Brock91色情片 willingness to make basketball decisions that fly in the face of conventional basketball wisdom: say, when he forsook a large public high school for a tiny Christian one in Chandler, Arizona. Or when he willingly left a prominent club team. Or, this past summer, when he transferred from NCAA Division 1 Liberty University in Virginia, where he played in every game as a freshman, to The 91色情片91色情片 University.
The ability to make against-the-grain decisions also comes from Holli and Troy, who made a point early on of laying out the pros and cons and letting their four children choose, for better or worse. And it鈥檇 be hard to argue, through the first month of the 2017-18 season, that their youngest child91色情片 latest choice wasn鈥檛 for the best.
On Dec. 2, Gardner scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-11 shooting in the NAIA No. 5-ranked Mustangs鈥 rout of Pacific Union, upping his season average, at the time, to 13.8 points a night.
He91色情片 currently averaging 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a gigawatt of energy every time he touches the floor. That, he said, was his goal early in the season when he came off the bench: He wanted to provide a spark. Eventually, he so lit it up that coach Kelvin Starr named him a starter.
The move was familiar to Gardner, who played varsity at Tri-City Christian Academy in Chandler as an eighth grader (per rules of the school91色情片 athletic association) and served as a role player.
He was roughly 6-2 at the time and brimming with promise if not yet playmaking ability. But by season91色情片 midpoint, his efforts forced the hand of coach Paul Brown.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 keep him off the floor,鈥 the coach says.
Really, there was no guarantee Brown could keep Gardner at all.
Gardner was torn. On one side, he saw a clearer path to Division 1 basketball at Arizona91色情片 Gilbert High, the public school his sister, Macey, attended before becoming one of Arizona State University91色情片 all-time great volleyball players.
On the other, Gardner saw the close-knit atmosphere he thrived in at Tri-City 鈥 the coaches and teachers he loved, the spiritual accountably he valued. He felt a sense of loyalty.
Over the summer, he played with Gilbert, which might have misstepped by posting up the now 6-6 freshman-to-be. Troy had played inside and outside at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, Arizona 鈥 and then at D2 New Mexico Highlands University 鈥 but he fancied himself a perimeter player, and that91色情片 where Brock had always played. Still, Brock could picture himself at Gilbert. He could see the positive of grander exposure, of playing under brighter lights.
When Tri-City91色情片 warmth ultimately won out, some dubbed it 鈥渂asketball suicide.鈥 Gardner says, 鈥淚 had to trust the Lord. I felt he was calling me to stay at Tri-City. And I couldn鈥檛 have been happier with that choice.鈥
You be the judge.
Over the next four seasons, as coach Brown kept his star pupil out of the post, Gardner competed in four state title games, winning two. He averaged more than 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists over the course of his junior and senior seasons and came up clutch in big moments.
His stat line in the 2015 state title game: 29 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks.
In the 2016 state title game: 20 points, 13 boards, seven assists, two blocks.
More impressive was the eye test. Namely, YouTube clips of Gardner gliding toward the hoop for powerful flushes or positioning himself behind the arc and striking from range.
鈥淥h man, exceptional player,鈥 says Brown, a varsity coach at Tri-City for the last 18 years.
Brown says Gardner helped change the program91色情片 culture, paving the way for kids to stay at the small school without abandoning dreams of D1 ball.
鈥淭o this day,鈥 Brown says, 鈥渇our of my current players are here because of the elite level that Brock Gardner played at.鈥
Gardner remembers the phone conversation, even if he won鈥檛 divulge the caller91色情片 name. He recalls hearing a handful of expletives in connection to his decision to switch club teams.
Before his sophomore year, Gardner 鈥 already a budding college prospect 鈥 began to believe the culture of his well-known club didn鈥檛 mesh with his walk with the Lord. So, he opted to join a friend on a far-less prominent team.
Obviously 鈥 by the phone call 鈥 not everyone agreed. But those whose opinions counted were firmly onboard.
鈥淲e鈥檇 rather have a well-grounded young man than a well-recruited young man,鈥 Troy says.聽In the end, the two weren鈥檛 mutually exclusive.
Gardner earned scholarship offers from Liberty, Air Force, Central Arkansas, Lehigh, UC Davis and UTEP, according to AZCentral.com.
He picked up offers from Ivy Leaguers Dartmouth and Columbia, too. But the choice, it turned out, was as much about aviation as athletics.
As a hobby, Brock and Troy spent afternoons flying remote-control planes and attending air shows. Brock was hooked. Now, if only more schools with D1 basketball had offered the major (Brock estimates 17 did at the time).
The decision, then, was narrowed to Air Force in Colorado and Liberty University in Virginia. Air Force intrigued Gardner, but the military commitment was a turnoff. He found it hard to part with so much, well, liberty. Virginia it was.
鈥淭hey had the aviation program, they had the Christian background, Christian education, and awesome basketball,鈥 Gardner said in a video sponsored by the school at the time. 鈥溾 It was all you could ask for, so it just seemed like the place to be.鈥
It91色情片 not that Gardner didn鈥檛 like Liberty. It was just, eh, too much. All of it. He found the balancing act tough, almost impossible, between arduous aviation studies and the nearly full-time duties of a Division 1 athlete.
鈥淚t came to the point where either my grades or basketball were going to suffer,鈥 he says.
After the fall semester, he switched his major to accounting. That didn鈥檛 add up, either.
On the court, he made eight starts in 35 appearances and averaged a tick under six points a game. But he felt restricted. He found himself wondering whether his coach would approve of this shot or that drive.
His high school coach, Brown, believes the squad91色情片 half-court style hampered the high-tempo Gardner, who trained with Liberty over the summer before his sophomore year but wasn鈥檛 convinced he鈥檇 return.
Finally, in mid-August, Gardner decided to bolt. But where to? It was late.
How late? New students were due at TMU, where Gardner knew family friends Josh and Mackenzie Delo, in a week91色情片 time.
Gardner91色情片 decision didn鈥檛 take long.
鈥淚t was literally a 24-hour period where he decided he wanted to come here,鈥 Starr says. 鈥淭he meaning of that is this: The kid wants to be here.鈥
Here being a place that feels something like Tri-City, a close-knit community with outsized basketball talent.
鈥淲e鈥檙e playing at a really high level even if it isn鈥檛 (Division 1),鈥 Gardner says of a team with two other Division 1 transfers in point guards Hansel Atencia (Liberty) and Darryl McDowell-White (Fresno State).
In the classroom, Gardner has declared as a biblical studies major. He envisions himself, potentially, as a military chaplain, preaching the word of God with passion. But that91色情片 a decision for after basketball. And who91色情片 to say Gardner won鈥檛 have more rims to attack and threes to shoot after his years at TMU are done?
鈥淭he safest way to the next level is to be where God wants him,鈥 Troy says. 鈥淚t91色情片 a non-traditional path. But he91色情片 happy. We鈥檙e happy. I listen to chapel on a weekly basis, and I鈥檓 ecstatic he91色情片 hearing that preaching and being influenced by the people he91色情片 being influenced by.鈥
The 91色情片91色情片 University and Seminary admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
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