After five games, junior Derek Elston is off to his best season at Indiana. The 6-9 forward from Tipton, Indiana is 100-percent this year and once again enjoying the game he loves.
Last season he played through a couple of injuries and never seemed comfortable. After the 2010-11 season, he had sports hernia surgery on May 26th. Now playing at full strength, all he can do is smile.
“Last year about this time after Evansville, it was miserable coming in here everyday knowing that I really couldn’t do anything,” Elston said. “Now to come out here everyday — to be able to practice everyday with these guys, to be able to play the way I am right now, to be able to knock down shots — I can honestly say I go out there every time with a smile on my face.”
As the season progresses, I cannot stress how much better Derek Elston looks. He is active and banging in the post against the opponents’ interior players. On the attack, Elston finds his teammates in transition, runs the court well and has shown his ability to finish. His teammates are taking notice too.
“Derek is a high-energy guy,” Victor Oladipo said of his teammate after a chuckle. “Last year was hard for him because he was hurt most of the year…he’s a high level right now and I really wish he keeps doing that cause it helps a lot.”
Second-year strength and conditioning coach Je’Ney Jackson is partially responsible for Elston’s new look. In addition to his help rehabbing the sports hernia, Elston has added muscle and strength that can help him post up with some of the beasts of the Big Ten. He’s determined and focus on the floor and playing bigger.
Elston is showing his full potential early into the season. Offensively, he has been decisive and willing to take an open shot. And on the shot, he’s squaring up and shooting the ball well. Through five games, he is averaging 8.4 points and 4 rebounds per game, both career highs. He is also shooting 68% from the field.
“He is playing with a lot of confidence because he is healthy,” head coach Tom Crean said proudly. “I think when you look back at the season he had a year ago, it’s got to start with the fact that he never really was healthy. It was always something that held him back, and right now he doesn’t have that. So that’s really important and he has improved.”
Showing his versatility, Elston has been a been effective inside the paint and from long-range. Already, he has connected on four-of-five shots from three-point, one more than all of last year (3-17).
“He also gets our offense going when he can get a rebound,” Will Sheehey added. “He has great court vision and can throw it up but also he mixes it up because he can go inside and outside. He can post up and he can come out so he is just a matchup problem. If he keeps rebounding the ball the way he does and knocking down shots there’s no way he doesn’t play.”
Indiana finally has some depth they haven’t had in Crean’s previous three seasons. No longer is playing time guaranteed for the sake of putting a team on the floor. Elston play on the court is effective, providing the Hoosiers with a different weapon.
“I think we have seven starters and he is one of them,” Crean noted. “That can change from week to week or couple days to a couple days, but he is good enough to be a starter on this team.”
In the next few games, Elston and teammates will face a tougher test, against Butler, North Carolina State, Kentucky and Notre Dame. If he can continue playing at this high-level, he has set himself up nicely for an impactful year.
“He is a diligent worker. He had a great offseason when it comes to the way we worked in the spring. I don’t think there is any question he got better in the summer. He has been very good in our fall, and we can feel him and see him getting better constantly inside of our practices. He is a product of his work and his health.”
After battling injuries all last season, Elston’s 100-percent and making his presence felt on the court. He can’t stop smiling.
[…] The quote of the night had to be “Derek Elston needs to be Scalabrine for us this year.” Elston is a senior who has averaged twelve to fifteen minutes and four to five points per game. Derek “Brian Scalabrine” Elston. Courtesy of http://www.vigilantsports.com/2011/11/27/finally-healthy-derek-elston-effective-at-both-ends-of-the-…. […]