Little Big Man

When senior point guard Scott Greenman talks about basketball, his eyes light up and a smile crosses his face. Unsurprisingly, the word "fun" is a frequent part of the conversation. He relishes the responsibility that comes with being the team's only senior and only captain because he loves the game of basketball. When the lights are blazing in Jadwin Gym, the stands are packed with cheering fans and alumni are watching the action unfold on national television from their couches at home across the country, Greenman is in his element. After all, he's been playing the sport since he was one year old.

It was around that time that his father, who played basketball for Bucknell, first put a ball in his son's hands. There are treasured family photographs of Greenman shooting into a kid-sized hoop at the tender age of two.

Though Greenman has grown a bit, that kid-sized hoop is probably the only one the five-foot, nine-inch point guard will ever dunk on. He's given up on vertical growth, but he knows he can continue to work on being a more effective player.

"I'm doing more things to disrupt the game, I think. As a 5'9" guy, if you're just going along playing like a 6'2" guy, you're not going to be that successful," Greenman said. "I'm trying to push myself to be disruptive on the defensive end, be all over them. I have to make up for my height in other areas of the game."

Head coach Joe Scott '87, a point guard himself, concurs.

"This is what I say to [Greenman]: 'Being 5'9" is not a negative.' He's got to turn it into a positive," Scott said. "He's got to be scrappy; he's got to dive after the ball; he's got to be all over the place; and he's gotten better at that."

In addition to defense, this year the team will be looking to Greenman, who Scott described as one of the team's best shooters, to be a key contributor on offense.

"[Greenman]'s got to score. He can score; he's got to do it from game one," Scott said. "He's not a greedy person, so I know he's not going to just try and score. But he has to know that he's a guy who can score."

Greenman admits he has been more passive on offense the past few years, taking things as they come. He is not afraid of responsibility, though, so if this year that means he has a greater responsibility to score instead of pass, he will do what is needed. As a player he is willing to do just about anything: pass to the open teammate, dribble to the hoop or take the outside shot, because in the end he has just one thing in mind.

"I would say, as point guard, my goal is just to make sure that we win," Greenman said.

His best memory of Princeton basketball is playing in the NCAA Tournament his sophomore year, and he said would love to get back there. Still, he knows the team has work to do before that can become a realistic goal.

"We have a chip on our shoulder. We want to prove last year was a fluke, a transition year," Greenman said. "Everybody has that in the back of our minds. We know what it was like, and we don't ever want to experience it again, so we're working really hard to make sure it doesn't happen again."

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With few experienced players on the roster — Greenman is the only senior — and two freshmen expected to play a contributing role, Greenman's leadership will be critical to the team's success.

"I think there's some added significance because I'm the only captain," Greenman said. "So I mean, if I'm not doing everything the right way, the way it's supposed to be done, and [not] setting a great example, then who's going to be doing it?"

Scott expects younger players like freshman guard Geoff Kestler, who will spend time alongside Greenman in the backcourt, to benefit from his leadership.

"He's [Greenman] done a real good job leadership-wise, being more vocal and letting the younger guys know what we do and how we do it," Scott said. "The younger guys will grow up more quickly because they have older guys to look up to."

As a leader, Greenman admits that he is more of a lead-by-example type, but he is also working on being more vocal because he knows it is something the team needs.

"I need to be telling everybody what to do, loudly so it's heard, and making definitive calls so we're on the same page," Greenman said. "The coaches have been on me to be more vocal, to take control more when I'm out on the floor."

Sophomore forward Noah Savage and junior forward Luke Owings don't seem to think Greenman's quietness is a problem. Owings praised Greenman for putting himself on the line for the team and always setting a great example, and Savage had nothing but good things to say about his teammate.

"He's a great captain," Savage said. "He doesn't say much, so when he does, everyone listens."