Sitting at the podium after Oregon’s rousing 71-69 victory on Friday, Joevan Catron found himself surrounded by two friends.
On the right was sophomore forward E.J. Singler, who hit the game-winning shot to ensure that his senior teammate would go out on a victorious note. To his left, displayed on the table for all to see, was the College Basketball Invitational Tournament Most Valuable Player trophy.
Catron scored a career-high 29 points against Creighton to spur the Ducks to victory, and it was certainly a night he would not soon forget.
“It’s tough to put into words,” Catron said. “But it’s just a great feeling. We set a goal when we got in this tournament to win the whole thing, and to accomplish that after the season we had, it’s just great to end on this note.”
Indeed, it could not have been a better ending for a player who dedicated five years to the program. It was never easy, and he dealt with numerous frustrating injuries throughout the process. Yet, head coach Dana Altman looks at Catron’s journey as a perfect example for the rest of the team.
“Joevan was the guy,” Altman said. “And without his leadership, without his stick-to-itiveness, coming to practice every day working his tail off, keeping the other guys going through a couple bad losing streaks, this season wouldn’t have had the success.”
After scoring 10 points in the first half, Catron truly caught fire in the game’s final 20 minutes. With the scales tipping in Creighton’s favor shortly after intermission, he simply demanded the ball and took over. By the end, he had scored 19 second-half points with an array of savvy post moves and pure power.
Singler watched the display with pleasure, but certainly not awe. He and the rest of his teammates had grown accustomed to following the lead of their burly senior leader.
“He’s been doing that all year for us,” Singler said. “Like we’ve been saying, Joe’s been our backbone throughout the whole year, and this really just showed how much this team has meant to him, how much Oregon has meant to him.
“He had a great game, and I’m just so proud that he could end the way he did (Friday).”
Sitting beside his teammate, Catron appeared to be genuinely moved by Singler’s sentiments.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
In the midst of all the joy, with ecstatic students prancing on the court behind him just after the buzzer sounded, Catron could not help but feel emotional as it all came to an end. Tears streamed down his eyes as he accepted the Most Valuable Player trophy, and he made sure to wave to the crowd one more time as he exited.
“You know it’s been a long time coming,” Catron said. “It’s like I’ve been prolonging to leave officially, but (Friday) it was it, win or lose. So I’m glad we won, and I just kind of had a reflection moment when I sat down and looked over my career. To end it this way is great.”
For the tournament, Catron averaged just more than 20 points to go along with nine rebounds per game. He proved to be the catalyst in each of Oregon’s six postseason victories, backing up his stated desire to play in the CBI.
Reflecting on the importance of Catron’s play throughout the season, Singler found it difficult to imagine playing without his center next season.
“We’re taking a big dent with Joevan leaving,” Singler said. “But I think this tournament helped us create a lot of confidence going into next year, giving us experience into postseason. And that was one of the reasons why we did it, was to get that experience.”
Catron, of course, does not have to think about a “next year” when it comes to Oregon basketball. Friday was his last hurrah as a Duck.
Asked how he would remember the 2010-11 season, Catron paused before letting out a slight chuckle.
“Winning,” he said. “That’s how I’m going to remember it.”
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