USC Fans probably remember Rodrick Stewart. He and his twin brother Lodrick were prized recruits out of Seattle when they signed with Henry Bibby as a package deal. Stewart picked up his fair share of minutes at guard during his inaugural season in L.A., but didn't make much of them - he averaged just 4pts, 2 asts, and less than a steal per game in just over 20 minutes of play per contest. In addition, he struggled academically as a Trojan, and was set to miss part of his sophomore season anyway when he decided to transfer to Kansas.
After sitting out his transfer year, and presumably getting his academic house in order, Stewart took the floor at Phog Allen Fieldhouse with expectations of a big season. He failed to make a dent in a lineup that already featured current Jayhawk stalwarts Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, and Russell Robinson, and when Sherron Collins came along a year later, Rodrick was practically glued to the bench. It would take a catastrophe for him to see the floor, and his statistical averages tended to begin with a decimal point.
This season, however, Rodrick finally got the chance he had sought. Brandon Rush began the season on the bench as he rehabbed a knee injury, which opened up a perfect spot for the 6'4" Stewart off the bench. He carved roughly 15 minutes per game out of the injured all-star's minutes, and helped the Jayhawks stay strong in the early going.
When lightning-quick Sherron Collins suffered a microfracture of his foot, Stewart really began to reap floor time. His season high was 29 minutes vs. his old school, USC, in which he managed only four points, seven rebounds, and was harrassed into five turnovers. His best overall performance as a key sub was a 13 point, 6 rebound outing against another Pac-10 team, Arizona. Even in that game, Rush played more minutes off the bench than Stewart did as a starter. Stewart started against DePaul, scoring only four points, and Rush was back in his accustomed spot by the following game - a neutral-court blowout of Ohio.
With Collins also back, and the Big 12 season in full swing, Stewart has again become the invisible man. Kansas fans can thank him for keeping the ship steady during the non-conference run - he didn't make mistakes, and contributed directly to the big win over Budinger and Bayless - and Stewart can never claim that he didn't get a chance to prove himself. In the end, it takes more than four points per game to start at Kansas.
Perhaps Stewart could have made more of a name for himself if he had transferred to a mid-major somewhere, but he took his chances with one of the top programs in the country. And on March 3rd, when he plays his last home game at Allen Field House, Rodrick will hear the cheers of the Jayhawk faithful, and get the traditional senior day start, and hopefully he'll feel he did the right thing.
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