Butler Basketball: 5 items on the Dawgs’ holiday wishlist
4. Golden Contributions
Bryce Golden played his first minutes as a Butler Bulldog on Dec. 21 and this means that he is no longer eligible for a redshirt season (barring an injury). To start playing him now seems a bit late but it must mean that head coach LaVall Jordan believes in Golden’s ability to make an impact on the team this season. A strong 6-foot-9 big man who can play at either the power forward or center positions, there are a few reasons why Golden might be able to play a major reserve role this year.
For starters, he should be able to help shore up a major weakness of the Dawgs: defending stretch bigs. As of right now, Fowler/Brunk cannot keep up with opposing bigs on the perimeter and McDermott/Tucker are not strong enough to slow them down in the paint. This was especially evident against Indiana when star big man Juwan Morgan went for 35 points. But now that Golden is eligible to play, the Dawgs hopefully have someone who can defend stretch bigs.
Additionally, he is well-known as a strong shooter from beyond the arc and this increases potential lineup versatility for the Dawgs. With his ability to stroke perimeter jumpers and also fight in the paint, Golden could either play at center in a small-ball lineup or function as a power forward alongside a true post threat such as Joey Brunk.
As we look ahead to the rest of the season, the hope is that Bryce Golden can emerge as a legitimate candidate for minutes off the bench. By removing his redshirt against UC-Irvine, it seems that Coach Jordan believes in Golden’s abilities and potential to impact the team. And with the way his size and versatility fits a need for the team, it would not be a major surprise to see him play 5-10 minutes per game and even more against certain matchups.