Busting Brackets
Fansided

Saint Mary’s Gaels’ next Matthew Dellavedova

By Daniel Tran

facebooktwitterreddit

With Saint Mary’s alum Matthew Dellavedova seemingly coming out of nowhere to excel in the NBA Finals, there is another Aussie guard in the pipeline that can develop into a similar threat for the Gaels.

It’s tough to find a sports fan that does not love an underdog story. The emergence of Matthew Dellavedova is a testament to that as he reaches cult hero status for his gritty performances in the NBA Finals with Kyrie Irving out for the rest of the season.

Being overlooked and overachieving is a situation that Dellavedova is accustomed to and thrives under. Being from the West Coast Conference and playing for a team not named Gonzaga will tend to do that to you.

More from WCC

Hidden behind the shadow that Gonzaga casts over the WCC, you will find a small Catholic college in Moraga, California by the name of Saint Mary’s that has become somewhat of an Australian hub for college basketball. This is where Dellavedova and many other Aussie players have honed their skills in the NCAA.

Aside from Dellavedova, another Aussie NBA Finals hero emerged from Saint Mary’s a year ago when Patty Mills scored 17 points for the San Antonio Spurs to close out the Miami Heat in game five of last years championship series. Mills spent two seasons with the Gaels, averaging 16.4 points and becoming the spearhead for Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett’s movement towards little known, but talented Australian players.

The Gaels currently have three Aussies on their roster with two more incoming next season. With only one point guard, taking up the mantle of being the next Saint Mary’s guard from Australia has very little competition. However, that does not mean that he won’t develop into a good player like the Australian guards before him.

Emmett Naar is currently a redshirt sophomore point guard at Saint Mary’s. Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Naar found it hard cracking the Gael’s starting lineup, but he was still able to play productive minutes.

With Aaron Bright and Kerry Carter playing ahead of him, Naar became the sixth man off the bench for the Gaels, averaging 6.3 points and 3.9 assists. Though he was coming off the bench, he led Saint Mary’s in assists and was an absolute sniper from beyond the three-point arc, knocking down 45 percent of his three-point attempts.

Of the three Australian guards that Bennett has had in recent years, Naar is by far the best three-point shooter. He is far from being the most athletic player on the court, but he is heady and smart in the pick and roll. Like Dellavedova, Naar uses position and leverage to defend quicker players and can be effective on that end of the court.

Bright and Carter have played their last games for the Gaels, meaning Naar will now be pushed into the spotlight in his second year of action. He will probably be sharing the backcourt load with Boston College transfer Joe Rahon, but he will undoubtedly get his opportunities to shine for Saint Mary’s during the 2015-16 season.

Next: Texas Longhorns May Have Engaged in Academic Misconduct

More from Busting Brackets