In many ways, Navy junior guard Greg Sprink is a man playing among boys. The 6-foot-5 native of Cardiff, Calif., is a starter on a team that plays five freshmen on a regular basis and has one senior that rarely gets off the bench.
Navy men?s basketball coach Billy Lange looks to Sprink for on-the-court leadership as he attempts to build the Midshipmen into a Patriot League title contender. Lange stuck with Sprink Saturday against Army when his leading scorer had no points in the first half, and Sprink rewarded Lange?s faith by scoring 19 points in the final 13:30 of the game. Sprink?s final six points were all from free throws over the final 31 seconds, helping Navy secure a 76-68 win that allowed the Mids to retain the Alumni Trophy for a fifth straight year.
“He?s young, but he acts like a senior,” Lange said. “I want him to understand that he?s got great experience despite being a junior. You talk collectively about being a team, but you still have to have that one guy who?s in charge out there, and Greg is that guy for us.”
Sprink leads Navy (14-13, 4-8 Patriot League) in scoring at 16.5 points per game. He now has 1,071 points in his career, only the fifth Navy player to accomplish that feat as a junior. He is on pace to become the only player in school history to end his career with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists.
Currently, Sprink is the only player in the Patriot League to rank in the top 10 in the conference in five offensive categories: scoring, rebounds, assists, field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage.
“He?s just gotten mentally tougher,” Lange said. “He comes into the Army game ? I?m sure he wanted to score 30 points, grab 10 rebounds and lead the team. Army got to him, but he kept his composure. I thought it was great how he knocked down those free throws down the stretch.”
Sprink said the individual accomplishments are great, but one of the greatest joys he has on the court is acting as a mentor and leader to the younger players on his team.
“It?s not easy, but it?s a challenge,” Sprink said. “I look forward to it every day. I?m just trying to go and get the young guys to listen to me and believe in me. I just try to lead by example.”
SPRINK NOTES
» Greg Sprink has had three streaks this season of making at least 20 consecutive free throws. Through Saturday, he was second in the Patriot League in free-throw percentage at .877.
» In games where Sprink scores at least 10 points, Navy is 14-8. When he doesn?t, the Mids are 0-5.
» Sprink has scored at least 18 points 12 times this season, including eight games of 20 points or more.
