WASHINGTON 鈥� With the loss of senior point guard Darius 鈥淧ee Wee鈥� Gardner, American University head coach Mike Brennan is ready to see who will emerge as the Eagles鈥� next on-floor general.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I鈥檒l ever be able to stop talking about Pee Wee,鈥� Brennan said on his weekly radio show, AU Hoop Talk. 鈥淗e just did so many things during games that made you win.鈥�
Gardner was the Eagles鈥� starting point guard the past two seasons and was a Second-Team All-Patriot League Selection both years. He was also the Patriot League Tournament MVP in 2014 and the Eagles鈥� No. 1 option with the game on the line.
鈥淣ow we have a new team and a lot of different faces,鈥� Brennan said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e looking to see who is going to be the guy or guys that are going to be out there and doing the things that you will make you win.鈥�
Brennan doesn鈥檛 have to wait much longer to find out who those players may be. AU opens the regular season on Friday against the Rhode Island Rams (8 p.m., 1050AM & ).
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a tough challenge as a first game,鈥� said Brennan, who is entering his third season at American. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a veteran team; they鈥檙e sort of ahead of us right now, so it will be interesting to see what our guys do.鈥�
While the Rams return four starters from last year鈥檚 team that reached the second round of the NIT, the Eagles will rely heavily on seniors Jesse Reed and Marko Vasic. Reed led AU in scoring last season (14.3 points-per-game) and was selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a challenge for him,鈥� Brennan said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a scorer and now he has to do all these other things that I鈥檓 talking about 鈥� all the tough plays and all the gritty stuff 鈥� but he鈥檚 still got to keep looking to shoot and score. That鈥檚 a difficult balance, but he鈥檚 been terrific so far and we have to make that he continues to be aggressive offensively.鈥�
Sophomore Alex Paquin and freshman James Washington are among the options to replace Gardner as AU鈥檚 primary ball-handler.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to see what both of those guys can do,鈥� said Brennan. 鈥淏ut to be honest, that鈥檚 not a huge question for me (who will carry the ball up the floor). It鈥檚 more, once we get over half court, what happens there? That鈥檚 where Pee Wee was so effective 鈥� we didn鈥檛 get pressed a whole lot. So that鈥檚 something that we have to think about.鈥�
Catch AU Hoop Talk with Mike Brennan Friday Nov. 13 at 7:15 p.m. on 1050AM and online at . Immediately following the show, stay tuned for AU鈥檚 season-opener against Rhode Island.
