As the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team gears up for the Elite Eight, seniors Chaz Watler and Aaron Cust have secured their place in program history.
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Even the most staunch of supporters would have been hard-pressed to see the changes that were to come. Tobin Anderson had been named the new Head Coach of the St. Thomas Aquinas men's basketball program for the 2013-14 season, taking the helm of a squad that had been competitive, yet managed to win just five contests in each of the previous two seasons.
Anderson brought in intensity, energy, and a detailed knowledge of the sport honed over a lifetime of dedication as a player and coach. But he needed the personnel to go with it.
Enter Chaz Watler and Aaron Cust.
Watler spent his high school days under the tutelage of Coach Jack Curran at Archbishop Molloy in Brooklyn, while Cust was a product of Uniondale on Long Island. Neither was highly recruited, but both brought attributes that Anderson felt were valuable.
Picked to finish 10th of 11 teams in the preseason East Coast Conference coaches' poll, the 2013-14 Spartans were a stunning 15-14, and made an unlikely run to the ECC Tournament final. A year later, they were 21-11 and earned a share of the regular season conference championship, again advancing to the finals.
Last season, STAC won 21 straight games, its first ECC Tournament Championship, and its first ever NCAA Tournament game, finishing with a 27-5 mark. And now, with a 28-5 record, yet another height has been reached, with the Spartans set to appear in their first-ever Elite Eight.
Cust and Watler have been the constants over that span, which has seen their collegiate careers result in a 91-35 record to date. Watler has missed just two of those 126 games over four years, Cust has been absent for only three.
"They've both been so consistent" Coach Anderson reflects. "Whether it's going to school, playing, lifting, whatever they do, they bring incredible leadership and you know what you're going to get from a concentration standpoint with Chaz and AC."
Though he was a raw freshman, Watler made an immediate impact, starting 24 games and earning ECC Rookie of the Year and 3rd Team All-Conference in his freshman season. In his sophomore year, he became the go-to player, developing a knack for hitting the big bucket. That culminated in last season's NCAA Regional when his buzzer-beater stunned Southern Connecticut State in the opening round. He was a 2nd Team All-ECC selection this year, after earning 1st Team honors the previous two years.
He has not had to be the go-to player on a talented STAC squad this year, but that has not at all diminished his importance. "Guys follow (Chaz)," Anderson noted. "Guys feed off him and what he does, how he acts. His leadership is off the charts."
Cust started four games in his freshman season, averaging just under 10 points per game while solidifying his spot as a key cog in Coach Anderson's high-pressure attack. A steady contributor with superlative speed, Cust was part of the regular rotation of pressure employed by his team.
That was, until Jon Lawton went down with an injury on January 25. After averaging 7.7 ppg over the first 109 games of his career, Cust seized the opportunity, while also filling a major need for his teammates. Over his next 14 games to date, he has averaged nearly 17 points per game, and his 30 point effort in the regular season finale against Mercy brought him over the 1,000 mark, a seemingly-unlikely plateau just weeks earlier.
"When (Lawton) went down, nobody said a word to him," states Anderson. "He knew the team needed him to do everything he could to help us win. He came to the gym early, did extra shooting, he showed his teammates he'd do whatever it takes. He's definitely been undervalued for people who don't see us on a regular basis."
And so, as the St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans board the flight that will eventually get them to Sioux Falls, their seniors will lead the charge, as they have done for each of the past four years. However the season ends, Coach Anderson's first recruiting class at STAC will be secure in their place in program history, with four years of highlights that will last a lifetime.