Jalen Pendleton emerging as team leader for Saluki Basketball
12/17/2014 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - After the Salukis lost by 23 points at Kent State last month, Southern Illinois head coach Barry Hinson held a team meeting in which he told each player exactly what their role on the team should be. When he got to Jalen Pendleton, he essentially told the junior guard it was his job to make his teammates better. He wanted Pendleton to bring energy to the court, distribute the ball on offense, and be a defensive stopper.
Hinson didn't say anything about scoring, and for most college players, that's the part they thrive upon. As he heads into his 75th game in a Saluki uniform on Friday night against New Orleans, Pendleton said he got the message. The Evansville native is taking fewer shots these days and is averaging a modest seven points per game, but he is the only player on the team with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. In the last five games, he has 13 assists and only six turnovers, and he's coming off a game against Tennessee State in which he had a career-high five assists.
"I accept that my role is to create shots for the scorers and shooters on our team," he said. "I like to drive, and when I get in there, teams collapse on me. That's when I like to look for Anthony (Beane) and Sean (O'Brien) and get those guys shots."
It takes maturity for a player to recognize their limitations and play to their strengths. Pendleton said he has made vast improvement in his approach to the game since last season.
"My maturity issues were the mental processes of basketball," he explained. "My first two years, I'd come in 15 minutes before practice, laughing and goofing around. Then when it came time to practice, we'd still be goofing around and wouldn't be ready to practice."
This season, he arrives at the gym one hour ahead of time, gets shots up on his own, and then focuses his mind on the practice plan.
"If I'm not mentally ready to play, then nobody is going to be ready to play, because they feed off me," he said. "If I want to play at a high level, I have to think at a high level. I have to bring it a hundred percent every day so (my teammates) can do the same."
At times, Hinson has decried the lack of leadership on this year's team, but Pendleton appears to be emerging as the standard-bearer amongst his teammates. Although there are no scholarship seniors on this year's club, Pendleton said he's picked up the habits of team leaders from his first two years at Southern.
"Kendal (Brown-Surles) showed me how to be a leader vocal-wise and how to talk to my teammates," he said. "Jeff Early was a leader on the court and brought it every day, no matter what, no matter who we were playing. He was going to fight every single day in practice. Desmar (Jackson) showed me how to be a gamer, stay focused and keep your foot on the gas. Playing with him was a great experience because he could do so many things well on the floor. Even when he had people all over him, he stayed calm and never got rattled."
The Salukis are 7-4 and about to hit the toughest part of their schedule with Missouri Valley Conference play beginning in two weeks. Pendleton said he can't wait for the challenge of leading this team into MVC battles.
"I like the pressure -- I'd rather have it on me than on somebody else," he said. "When we play well, I give all the credit to my teammates. When everything goes bad, I take all the pressure. That's the type of person I am."
Although Southern was picked seventh in the preseason poll, Pendleton doesn't accept that this year's youthful team won't be competitive.
"There doesn't need to be a down time for us to rebuild," according to Pendleton. "We need to start winning now. That's what I preach to the team -- we can win ballgames, no matter our age."
He's even willing to take on a bit more of the scoring role, if necessary. Up until last week, he hadn't made a 3-point shot, but since the SEMO game he is 3-for-3 on looks from downtown.
"Coach says if you're down and ready, and not thinking about the shot, that's the shot he wants us to take," Pendleton explained. "A shot that I have to think about taking is a bad shot. I should just take shots I feel comfortable with."
When asked to describe himself, Pendleton's description fits what you would expect from a team leader.
"I'm just calm, cool and collected," he smiled. "I laugh a lot, I'm definitely loud. I think I'm a fun person to be around -- if someone's having a bad day, I can help them turn their day around."
Saluki fans are hoping Pendleton's leadership can help the program turn around this season as well.
