For junior forward Joevan Catron, this season began as a chance to build on a legacy that has been gaining momentum consistently since he walked onto campus three years ago.
As a freshman, he was a valuable spark plug for a squad that won the Pac-10 tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament behind senior point guard Aaron Brooks.
In his role off the bench he averaged just more than three points and three rebounds per game, including a four-point, seven-rebound performance in Oregon’s Sweet 16 win over UNLV.
As a sophomore he stepped up his game, starting 22 games and averaging 8.8 points and 5.7 rebounds, good for No. 13 in the conference in rebounding, second on the team behind senior Maarty Leunen.
But an even bigger role for Catron in his sophomore campaign may have been as a recruiter, as his leaner, fitter physique had people around his native Chicago taking notice.
“Joevan was a walking advertisement,” said coach Ernie Kent in November of 2007 as he announced the signing of Michael Dunigan, Josh Crittle and Matthew Humphrey. “Those Chicago guys all know Joevan Catron and see where he’s going with his body, his game and his success.”
Catron was obviously excited at the prospect of a few more of Chicago’s Mean Streets (AAU) players coming out to Eugene. He saw it as a chance to get some friends out of Chicago and into a more relaxed atmosphere.
“I just wanted to get some people from home out here with me, so they can get a chance to get out of Chicago, get over here on the West Coast,” he said last spring. “Out here, you don’t really have to worry about too much violence. It’s just a college town, there’s nothing really to get in trouble with.”
He is a major reason they are here, and all three of the freshmen will tell you they look up to Catron as a player and a person. This means that he is a de facto leader on this team, like it or not.
And as it turns out, Catron doesn’t necessarily like it. He isn’t as comfortable being a leader yet as he thought he might be, and it has had an impact on his game.
“That’s been a big thing for me,” Catron said of his role as a leader this season. “I just want to lead them in the right way. Sometimes I get down on myself, thinking I’m not doing a good enough job, and it affects my game.”
Coach Kent agreed.
“He definitely is pressing. No question about it,” Kent said. “I think he probably feels more pressure on himself to do more, and what we need for him to do is just to relax and get back to playing his type of basketball and being Joevan.”
Though Catron leads the team in rebounds (6.7 rebounds per game, 5th in the Pac-10) and assists (2.7 assists per game), he has struggled to score, shooting 38.4 percent from the field while averaging 8.3 points. Kent said that scoring is what the team needs most from Catron right now.
“He has to score,” Kent said. “He’s a veteran player that has scored ever since he’s been here. He needs to get back to doing what he does best, and that’s just playing his game of basketball and not really worrying about anything else.”
Catron met with coaches this week and discussed the issue, looking for a solution to the pressure he feels to lead the young players. Catron seemed pleased with the result of the conversations and said he feels ready to shift gears and get back to playing his game.
“We got back on the same page and I think I’ll be fine now,” he said. “It’ll be something where I don’t really worry about leading them. They got that part. I’m just going to play my game now.”
A rejuvenated Catron would be a welcome development right now for an Oregon team that is left searching for answers after coming up woefully short in road games at Arizona and Arizona State last week. Kent said he hopes that the combination of relieving Catron of some pressure along with returning home to McArthur Court will yield results.
“Hopefully he can relax a little bit and just get back here in this building and enjoy the crowd and enjoy the atmosphere and just free himself up a little bit and play his game,” Kent said.
Catron said he believes that one good game is all it takes to turn things around; not just for him – for the whole team.
“You’ve got to have that one game where everything’s going right and you’re making your shots. Once you do that then you get your confidence back and you start rolling from there,” he said. “I think it’s going to turn around. We get that one game and I think our season should be headed in the right direction because we’ll have our confidence and we’ll know we can win.”
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