Recruiting Report: Colin Rardin (2017)
It is hard to find a task on the basketball court Colin Rardin won’t embrace. Need someone to knock down corner 3-pointers? Rardin is up to the task. Need someone to guard an opponent’s top scorers? The 6-4 Rock Canyon…
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Continue ReadingIt is hard to find a task on the basketball court Colin Rardin won’t embrace.
Need someone to knock down corner 3-pointers? Rardin is up to the task. Need someone to guard an opponent’s top scorers? The 6-4 Rock Canyon senior is the one to turn to. Want someone fighting on the glass? Disrupting passing lanes? Moving the basketball? Whatever you need, Rardin will find a way to get it done.
“Whatever I need to do to help us win, I’m down for it,” said Rardin, the high-academic Swiss Army Knife behind the Jaguars’ 13-2 start to the season. “Here, I’m a shooter, play defense, glue guy, hustle guy. With the Chaos I was the same way, play defense, knock down big shots. I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
Rock Canyon boasts one of the top five players in the state in Sam Masten, a 6-2 junior guard who continues to re-invent his game and perplex defenders. The addition of talented, intelligent, hot-shooting point guard Tyson Gilbert has added even more versatility to a team that has the look of a state title contender.
Rardin, who averages 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, fills in as the ultimate X-factor. He’s been incredibly reliable, scoring at least 11 points in each of the last 13 games.
“He’s kind of had to wait his turn,” Rock Canyon coach Kent Grams said of Rardin. “He was a big piece for us last year. He had a great opportunity to start for us last year, but he wanted to come off the bench and be that sixth guy because everyone knows how important it is. He’s stepped into a leadership role and it’s taken some time to do it, but this is his senior year and it means everything to him.”
Rardin has a 4.0 GPA and has scored a 30 on his ACT. That academic success, combined with his basketball talent, has earned him significant recruiting attention from high academic Division III programs like Case Western (Cleveland), North Park (Chicago) and Trinity (San Antonio).
“We’ll see if some of the D-II schools come in as the season goes on,” Rardin said. “I’m just focused on having the best season we can. Hopefully it’s ending late in March, and I can commit after that.”
In other words, there is still time for schools looking for the ultimate glue guy to check out Rardin. Chances are he’ll be showing up on plenty of big stages with the Jaguars between now and March.