Davante Gardner: New and Improved

Davante Gardner came to Marquette 2 yrs ago weighing 315 lbs and was not able to run the court very well. However, he showed great hands and the ability to score down low in the post and pass out of the post to cutters or kick out passes to guards on top. His ability to pass was never more apparent when Duke's Mike Kryzywski called timeout to change defenses to get the ball out of Gardner's hands.

An injured Gardner looks on from the MU bench last season.

Last yr, Davante replaced an injured Chris Otule but then hurt his knee vs. Villanova and missed 6 weeks of the season. He returned but seemed to be dragging his leg when running up and down the court. Coach Buzz Williams joked that the 'cure' for Gardner's knee injury was to give him the ball down low, and then he never seemed to limp.

This yr, Davante has dropped about 20 lbs and is moving very well. In the Madness scrimmage he sprinted back on defense faster than anyone had ever seen him before.

At Media Day, I asked Davante about his knee and his thoughts on the upcoming season.

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