March 29, 2024
Boys Basketball

Jacobs alum Cameron Krutwig eyes playing professionally after time at Loyola is done

The day will come for Loyola center Cameron Krutwig when he puts his degree in entrepreneurship to use in the business world.

Krutwig plans on delaying that step into the real world as long as he possibly can.

First, there is his senior season with the Ramblers, which started with Saturday’s 76-48 victory over Lewis University at the Gentile Center in Chicago.

Later, Krutwig will discuss his options for next year, which include returning to Loyola since the NCAA is not counting the 2020-21 school year against anyone’s eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Or, the 6-foot-9 Jacobs graduate could opt to play professionally overseas or perhaps even in the U.S.

“That’s a big decision. You have to keep it all open and see how this year plays out,” Krutwig said. “I definitely have aspirations to play as long as I can, whether it’s overseas or here. That’s a conversation with me, (Loyola) coach (Porter Moser) and my family (parents Kevin and Lori) when the season’s over.”

Moser would love to have Krutwig stick around one more season.

“You can’t have a better teammate than Cam Krutwig,” Moser said. “He’s been through so much with us. He’s like having another assistant coach on the team. When players can coach the younger guys it has more of a powerful effect.

“I like Cam off the floor. I like talking about the Bears, about music and movies with Cam. I enjoy winning with Cam. We both love to win, that’s at the top of the list. I enjoy him as a person. He’s a fun guy to be around. There’s a certain dynamic between coaches and players, but we’ll be friends for life.”

THE RIGHT PROGRAM

It is hard to imagine Krutwig making a better choice than picking Loyola. The 2017 Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Player of the Year stepped into a great situation as starting center for the Ramblers in 2018.

Krutwig was voted Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and the Ramblers became darlings of the NCAA Tournament, making it to the Final Four.

Moser saw something special with Krutwig’s basketball smarts and his all-around game.

“Some people at the next level who are scouting are going to do what my peers did,” Moser said. “You walk in the gym and he doesn’t pass the eye test, because he’s not leaping up and grabbing balls off the top of the square. The more you watch him, he’s always going to be productive. I watched him so many times in high school and AAU. He’s going to play somewhere professionally.”

Krutwig was in the ideal spot as a freshman playing with Clayton Custer (the MVC Player of the Year), Marques Townes, Ben Richardson, Donte Ingram and Aundre Jackson. He gave them a post presence who could score, rebound, defend and pass.

Krutwig is now the veteran player others look to for guidance, with a chance to become the first player in Ramblers’ history to reach their top 10 in career points, rebounds and assists. He already ranks No. 7 in blocked shots with 81. The only question is if Loyola can play enough games because of the coronavirus for Krutwig to reach those marks.

The Ramblers’ season was put on hold recently when most of the team tested positive for the coronavirus and everything was shut down. Krutwig said he experienced headaches, body aches and fatigue for several days and still doesn’t have much taste or smell, but he feels fine now.

As a junior, Krutwig made the All-MVC first team for a second consecutive year and was runner-up for MVC Player of the Year.

“It’ll be something I look back on and say, ‘That was pretty cool,’ ” Right now, we’re living it, they’re nice (honors) to have. But those come with team success. My freshman year Clay had a really good year, but we were the best team (in the MVC). We had a ton of awards that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t get first place.”

THE RIGHT COACH

Krutwig speaks as glowingly of Moser as the coach speaks of his center.

“I didn’t think I knew it all when I came here, but I was a pretty cerebral player,” Krutwig said. “Coach Moser taught me a ton. We have all these little phrases, there are like 150 up here (on the locker room walls) and I could name every single one. I learned so much about the right way to play the game.”

Moser admires Krutwig’s unselfishness – he has 282 career assists and needs 43 more to break Loyola’s career top 10. But the coach wants him to think of himself a little more this season.

“His first instinct is to pass. I want him to be a little more greedy,” Moser said. “He can be one of the most dominant big men in the country. We’re trying to put him into that mentality.”

Krutwig particularly enjoys working with assistant coach Matt “Flash” Gordon.

“Flash really helps me a lot,” Krutwig said. “I’ve been working a lot with him since my freshman year. He’s always around. I do a lot with Flash.”

Moser likens Krutwig to one of the NBA’s young stars, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, a center who plays like a point guard as far as setting up other players.

“You just don’t have a lot of guys like that,” Moser said. “A lot of people compare him like a Baby Jokic, a point-5, the ball goes through him to run the offense. We run our offense through him.”

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

There was a special night during the 2014 Fox Valley Conference season when Huntley faced Jacobs. Huntley 6-8 senior forward Amanze Egekeze, who ended as as Northwest Herald Player of the Year, faced Krutwig, a 6-5 freshman quite a bit.

Egekeze led Huntley to a victory that night with another solid all-around effort, but the freshman left-hander scored a few buckets while Egekeze was guarding him. The FVC’s dominant big man left after that season for NCAA Division I Belmont, leaving that title to Krutwig the next year.

The two have become good friends since, working out with basketball trainer Zac Boster during the summer months. Egekeze is in his third professional season overseas – with BC Gries-Oberhoffen in France – and recently played with the Nigerian National Team in the FIBA AfroBasket Championships.

Krutwig might be looking at a similar career move after college.

“I talked to Amanze pretty frequently, asked him about his experiences,” Krutwig said. “He’s a really good resource for that type of stuff. Over the years, we’ve gotten closer for sure.”

Egekeze played in Japan in 2018 after he finished at Belmont, then played in Greece last year.

“He’s on everybody’s radar,” Moser said. “We want to put him in the best possible position to be the best athlete he can be, to be in the best physical condition, mobility and strength-wise, he can be. He’s definitely on everybody’s radar.”

Joe Stevenson

Joe Stevenson

I have worked at the Northwest Herald since January of 1989, covering everything from high school to professional sports. I mainly cover high school sports now.