James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Not many people knew that Kelly Olynyk was even apart of the Gonzaga Bulldogs coming into the 2012-13 college basketball season. However, Olynyk went from a bench player to one of the best players in the nation in just one season.
In his first two years with the team, Olynyk averaged 9.6 points per game if you add up his freshman and sophomore season averages. He only averaged 3.8 rebounds per game and 13.5 minutes per game last season.
Once those minutes were doubled, Olynyk went off. As a result of averaging 26.4 minutes per game this past season, he managed to score 17.8 points per game and averaged 7.3 rebounds per game. If it wasn’t for this great season, who knows if Olynyk would have ever gotten a shot in the NBA, but now he will be skipping his senior year and will be entering the 2013 NBA Draft.
Not to mention, he will get drafted. His 7’1” height is one thing, but his breakout season is a whole different story.
Olynyk was in the Player of the Year conversation all season long for obvious reasons. He turned into being a bench player to being one of the best in a very short period of time. Stories like these are great and it will be interesting to see if he can compete at the next level.
Whether the case, what a breakout season it was for Olynyk, which resulted in one of the best regular seasons in school history for the Bulldogs.
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