Mike Muscala

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By Chris Dougherty, Standard Journal - Milton, PA

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 9:11 AM CST

LEWISBURG — Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen has been in Mike Muscala’s ears the past few weeks — in a good way.

“That’s great stuff, Michael,” the Bison coach said at a recent practice, commending the effort of his 6-foot-10 center out of Roseville, Minn.

Since cracking the starting lineup for the Bison in late December, Muscala has blossomed into one of the top players in the Patriot League. His continued development from high school to the college game has expanded his role on the team.

“Early on he had flashes of greatness followed by moments of being a freshman, which he still has now, but you can see his confidence level rise every day,” Paulsen said. “He’s tremendously skilled. He can shoot, he can pass. The part about him that I think is so underrated is that he plays so hard.”

Muscala averages a team-best in points (14) and rebounds (6.7) in Patriot League play. What makes Muscala so tough to guard is his ability to hit shots away from the basket. He regularly hits mid-range jumpers but makes teams respect him with his inside game as well.

He is also the catalyst of the league’s best shot-blocking team, as the Bison average 4.5 swats per game. As of Sunday, Muscala leads the league in blocks per game at 3.1 and has a total of 50 to his name on the season.

“Defensively he can cover a five man or quicker guards,” Paulsen says. “He leads us in blocks and we don’t keep stats on altered shots, but he’s altered a ton.”

Another strong aspect of Muscala’s game is free-throw shooting. Unlike other guys his size, Muscala knocks down his freebies, converting 90 percent from the line, second best in the league behind Navy guard Chris Harris.

Despite his increasing statistics, Muscala is still adapting to the college game. He says playing for a Division I school has been a bit different compared to his days at Roseville.

“It was a huge adjustment,” he said. “Every day still is. I didn’t have any expectations, and I think that was the right way to go about it,” Muscala said. “I was just planning to go out and see what happens. It’s crazy to think that it’s only my first year, but it’s been really fun.”

Coming out of high school, Muscala was being recruited by Santa Clara, Denver and Cornell. Although he said Bucknell was the perfect fit for him, attending school far from Minnesota wasn’t his intention.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” he said. “It just happened that way. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be an issue at first, but it’s been great so far.

“When I first visited campus (at Bucknell) everything just clicked. I wanted a place to get a great education but also a place where they valued basketball. This is really a great combination of both of those things.”

Despite being far away from Roseville, Muscala is able to keep up with family and friends through various technologies (e-mail, phone, Twitter) and says his parents have each made trips out to seem him play. A three-day trip over Christmas is the only time he’s been back home since he started college.

“You don’t get much time off but with the amazing technology it doesn’t feel like I’m so far away from them,” he said.

Paulsen knew he had a gem when he landed Muscala.

“We were pretty certain we had something special here when we recruited him,” he said. “He’s been incredibly valuable to us. The best part about him is he’s humble and he’s hungry to get better.”

And his teammates agree. If you ask any coach or player on the team, they will tell you this squad has a crucial element to succeed — chemistry. Muscala said he and his fellow freshmen fit right in with teammates in the fall, particularly during lifting sessions that began as early as 6 a.m.

“Everyone just welcomed us in, which was great,” he said. “Back in high school I was on a team that wasn’t really like that, and it wasn’t very fun. I think getting that core together in the fall helped a lot.”

Sports Editor Chris Dougherty can be reached at sports@standard-journal.com or by phone at 570-742-9671.