Sister Jean gets all the headlines for Loyola-Chicago, but we’re not talking enough about the 6’9 260-pound freshman center who looks like a pickup basketball player you might go up against at the YMCA.
Cameron Krutwig is a barrel chested behemoth on the inside who moves with the feet of a tiny dancer. As a fellow husky man myself, I salute big boys getting after it when their appearances say otherwise.
He is many ways a throwback to a different era, and that extends to his basketball sensibilities as well.
“I’m always siding with the older players,” he said. “I’m always defending Larry Bird. (Teammates) think he would just be an average player. I think he’s great, the way he passed the ball. I just have respect for the history of the game and the way those guys played it.”
Krutwig is second on the team in rebounds (by a negligible amount) and leads the team in field goal percentage. He basically plays his whole offensive game on the ball within a few feet of the cup, and that’s fine.
He’s dropped 30 pounds since the start of his college career and he attributes it to a big change in diet.
Krutwig is already really good for any big guy and insanely good for a freshman.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 24, 2018
That back door pass by Krutwig was pornographic! He’s such a great passer! #Loyola
— Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes) March 24, 2018
Krutwig Olajuwon going to work.
— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) March 24, 2018
Krutwig dominating guys with a pick up game body is the absolute best
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) March 24, 2018
Small-ball may be en vogue in basketball — and even Elite Eight opponent Kansas State played with five guard lineups — but at 23.7 minutes per game, the Ramblers have a strong commitment to having Krutwig on the floor and we’re all the better for it.