We Want Denver Anglin Back

I had the pleasure of meeting Denver Anglin’s mother before the game at St. John’s. I immediately recognized her from Capital One where she would take the train down from New Jersey to watch every game and cheer her heart out. She did all that  just to watch her son ride the bench. So when I got the chance, I couldn’t help but tell her how much we appreciate her son and, most importantly, how much we want to see him develop as a Hoya.

Coming out of high school, Anglin was the embodiment of what it meant to be a Hoya. As a four star recruit, it was clear that the combo guard had talent, but as a fierce defender and what many considered to be the best shooter in his class, we knew more than anything else he had skills that would translate into his collegiate career. 

But beyond his seemingly unlimited range, Anglin’s intangibles made most of us believe he could be an all time Hoya. At Gill St. Bernard’s, Denver played on and against some of the best teams in the country, but this didn’t keep the slightly undersized combo guard from playing with intensity on both sides of the ball. It was not overly uncommon for Anglin to force a stop on defense to then follow it up by either facilitating for his team or making a deep shot in someone’s face on offense. In other words, Denver Anglin had that dog in him.

So considering Dante Harris’ absence to start the season and the team’s overall build, it was clear this team was going to be lacking in guard depth and shooting, both atributes Anglin could have brought to the team. So as Anglin entered his freshman season, we expected him to get some playing time during the relatively light nonconference schedule in hopes that he could get a feel for the collegiate game and contribute when the games began to matter. What happened instead was what could only be described as Anglin being held back. 

Through the 11 game nonconference slate, Denver averaged just 3.3 minutes per game and only took nine shots. Most of the time he entered the game as a shooter at the end of halves, sitting in the corner waiting for a pass that inevitably never came. As far as his development went, the coaches repeatedly passed over opportunities to help Denver gain any sense of confidence at this level, instead opting to have certain players average over 35 minutes against subpar opposition or in blowouts. In the 34-point win against Green Bay, for example, Denver only saw the floor for seven minutes and only took two shots. That’s one hell of a way to develop a highly touted freshman.

So as we entered Big East play, Anglin was wholly unprepared for the challenges he was about to face. Look, freshmen usually have a hard time acclimating to the Big East at first, but Denver was basically thrown to a hungry pack of wolves with no protection. When his number was called on after the team faced some injuries, he was dropped into a role he wasn’t ready for and inevitably made mistakes – mistakes he probably wouldn’t have made if he played earlier in the season. While his shots weren’t dropping, his confidence was, but that seemingly changed nothing. He still sat in the corner doing nothing until he got benched at the end of January. All the tangibles and intangibles he came into the season with were lost.

At the end of the day, we know Denver Anglin has talent and we know he has the traits necessary to succeed on the hilltop. So Denver, if you’re reading this I want to say one thing: you didn’t deserve this. You were failed, every promise was broken and frankly you deserve so better. We know what you are capable of and what you’re going to do in the future so please come back. Next year is going to be so much better for all of us.