In Need of Size and Shooting, Cal turns to a "Stretch-5" in Connor Vanover
He's something that head coach Wyking Jones has never had before.
Standing at 7’3”, freshman Connor Vanover is the tallest player to don a Cal uniform since Max Zhang in the 2009-10 season. His height is impossible to not notice when you see him walk into a room, dwarfing Jones, who stands at 6’7”. He's also someone that Jones considers a 'stretch-5,' a rarity in the past but an archetype becoming more and more common with the changing trends in the game of basketball.
“He can really shoot that ball. He can really really shoot the ball,” Wyking Jones said of his initial impressions of Vanover. “When he misses we’re all surprised. He’s just a natural shooter with that size and it’s so hard to get out and close out on him because number one he’s 7’3” and most bigs don’t do a great job of closing out anyway, so I’m hoping that he can really be a mismatch problem for other teams’ defense.”
A major reason for Vanover’s development is a coach who believed in his shooting abilities. Rather than confining Vanover to the post, he gave Vanover free reign to shoot and develop into a stretch big man.
“I’ve always been a little taller than everybody else,” Vanover said. “But I basically sprouted around 7th grade. And then towards the end of 8th grade I was almost seven foot. But ever since I was little, I had my coach, he always believed in a shooting big, so he always just let me shoot. My mom played for the Arkansas Razorbacks back in the 80s and she had a good stroke, too.”
Vanover has had to put in the time in the weight room to get stronger so as to not get pushed around in the post. He’s up to around 225 pounds (he came in around 208) but hopes to weigh even more by the start of the season.
“I think it’s gone really good for me,” Vanover said of his workouts. “This summer and up to now, it’s been really good. This summer I basically got to come here and kinda feel things out being basically my first time in California and this environment, especially the college environment. This summer was really good for me to fit in and learn how to develop. And since school started it’s just gone uphill from there. I’ve started gaining weight and getting stronger. I think it’s been really good for me. I’m getting faster, I’m getting stronger. A big thing that I needed to work on is getting stronger on rebounding or posting up. And I can really start to see a difference playing down low.”
Something that has really helped Vanover is having Jones return to his roots by working with the big men along with assistant coach David Grace. Their coaching is helping Vanover to get out of his comfort zone, working to utilize his size inside and out.
“It’s great. They’re teaching me a lot of things that I haven’t worked on before,” Vanover said. “And also, a lot of things that I can polish up on. So, a lot of low post things. I think they’re doing a really good job on that and picking and popping and rolling and anything else a big needs to do.”
As far as his teammates go, freshman Andre Kelly has been a great help to Vanover and his development, giving him a big body to go up against in practice. Unlike Vanover, Kelly has had to lose weight over the summer, slimming down to 260 pounds. As the biggest body on the team, Kelly is giving Vanover an opportunity to improve his physicality.
“It’s good. We go at each other,” Vanover said of his practices against Kelly. “We’re roommates. We keep it pretty nice off the court, but on the court, we go at each other. We try to make sure that we get each other better.”
Vanover's also been an interesting player to learn from, as junior point guard Paris Austin, is learning where his teammates like the ball for open shots.
“Yeah, we’re really learning each other,” Vanover said of his relationship with Austin. “Especially all the older guys learning and the freshmen. What we can do best and where we want the ball. And I’ve even talked to some of the guards about where we can get me the ball and how we can share it well.”
When asked if he’s played with a 7-footer who can shoot, Austin was quick to say that Vanover is in a league of his own.
“Nah. Not like him. Not like him,” Austin said with a chuckle. “I come off the screen with Connor, like most of the times I already know where he is before I even pass him the ball. And then once it goes up, I’m running down the court because it’s good.”
Given his unique combination of size and shooting, Connor Vanover projects to get a lot of minutes on this Cal team. The team doesn’t have a lot of size up front and they’re going to need all the 3-point shots that they can get. While some freshmen might be a little worried about so much responsibility, he is eager to shoulder the load:
“I think it’ll be really good for me. Even if I don’t do well, it’ll be good for a learning experience. But I feel like this year will be a good year for me. Of course, I’m getting stronger, faster, and I think it’ll translate to the court and I think we’ll have a good year this year.”