Troy’s Hazzard rising to the occasion

TROY — Two words from Troy head coach Don Maestri provided all the motivation Brandon Hazzard needed in the offseason.

“Bassett’s gone.”

Hazzard, now a junior guard for the Trojans, backed up star O’Darien Bassett, a world-class athlete who led the Trojans in scoring the past two seasons.

Bassett’s graduation left the door open for Hazzard to step in, but he knew he had some competition at the off-guard spot with junior college guards Travis Lee and Regis Huddleston arriving.

So he spent the entire summer in his hometown Atlanta, working three hours a day on conditioning with a personal trainer he hired, and spending six more hours playing basketball.

“I was a gym rat,” Hazzard said. “All the time. I came back prepared and playing some of my best basketball ever. When I came back, I was going to be ready.”

Hazzard played sparingly as a freshman, but the 6-foot-2 guard showed flashes early in the year last season, scoring 19 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
and following that up with 27 points against Jacksonville.

But the consistency, and playing time behind Bassett and Justin Jonus, wasn’t there.

Now, it is. Heading into tonight’s game with UL-Lafayette, Hazzard is shooting 43 percent and scoring 12.8 points per game, second on the team.

His 27 points nearly helped Troy knock off UAB on the road. Against FIU, the streaky Hazzard struggled early, but hit a big jumper and two key free throws late in the game to preserve a 69-62 win.

“He fooled us the early part of the night because he missed early shots, but at the end of the game against FIU, he hit some big, big shots for us,” Maestri said.

“When he’s feeling it, you can really expect him to get a lot of points on that particular night.”

When Hazzard came back for the fall, Maestri knew he’d have another scorer to compliment transfer guard Richard Delk, who leads the team at 13.7 ppg.

“He did all the things you should do in the offseason to become a better basketball player,” Maestri said. “He’s earned his starting spot, and we’re relying on him for baskets.”

He was spotted in Atlanta by former assistant William Small, who Maestri described as an “excellent evaluator of potential in high school players.” That year, Troy signed Hazzard and 6-foot-9 forward Bernard Toombs, who is redshirting this year to provide more minutes on the back end of his career.

Hazzard, a quiet guy who likes jazz music, worked on his game last year while going against Bassett in practice and watching him score nearly 20 ppg.

“I got quicker checking him every day in practice,” Hazzard said. “I picked up some ways he could score, and I was being a student.”

ULL struggling: ULL’s men are talented on paper, but they are struggling, having lost five of six. ULL beat Troy by 21 last year in Troy before the Trojans got revenge at ULL in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament, upsetting the Ragin’ Cajuns 70-60. Travis Bureau, a 6-foot-7 swingman, leads ULL at 15.4 ppg.

Troy is 7-9, 2-2 in the league.

Troy women on a streak: The doubleheader at Trojan Arena starts at 5:15 p.m. when Troy’s women take on ULL. Troy (7-7, 2-2) has won four straight, led by Kylie Morrissy’s 16.4 ppg and Donnette McNair’s 11.8 ppg and 7.1 rebounds per game.

ULL is 3-12, 0-4 in SBC play.