Senior forward Ryan Boll has taken his experience over the last four years into his new role as the team leader.

Boll’s playing time has increased each year, from averaging only six minutes a game his first year to now playing over 35 minutes a game.

With the increased playing time, the points have been coming in bunches for Boll. He already has a 39-point performance against a top-15 ranked team in Marietta (Ohio) and a 28-point performance against Concordia-Moorhead.

However, Boll hasn’t always been the scorer for the Tommies.

In his sophomore year, he started on the 2016 National Championship team with a much different role.

“His role was that of a defensive stopper,” coach John Tauer said. “He fully embraced that.”

Boll’s sophomore year helped him grow, but it also gave him what every collegiate athlete dreams of: a national championship.

“It was definitely a growing experience,” Boll said. “From barely playing at all freshman year to playing 25 minutes, it was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had basketball-wise.”

Now a senior, Boll was described as the “unequivocal” leader of the team by Tauer.

“It’s something I wasn’t used to,” Boll said. “I would say I was always a little more quiet, so having to step up and be a leader has been a growing challenge.”

Perhaps now more than ever, a senior leader has become a necessity for the Tommies.

“We’re playing more young guys than we probably ever have,”Tauer said. “We have a number of veterans who have been injured and not played much.”

The Tommies started the season missing four of their expected top eight players, including guards Michael Hannon and John Veil. Boll has not only improved his game on the court in their absence, but he has become the consummate leader off of the hardwood.

“He’s the guy we look to on the court,” first-year guard Burt Hedstrom said of Boll. “But what makes him special is he’s the same guy we look to off the court.

“It’s been a little difficult transitioning to college basketball and college life, but he’s always been the guy checking in on me, texting me and just making sure everything goes smooth.”

Boll has had his hands full early in the season with this young team. The Tommies suffered a three-game losing streak and were, at one point, 3-4. However, the team is just starting to get some of their key players back.

“We got Bair back (Tuesday) at practice, and Michael (Hannon) comes back in a month,” Boll said. “They will hopefully be able to jump in and help us become a national contending team.”

Tauer and the team are confident in their leader and that the team will bounce back from a rocky start to the season.

“When I look around the country and the outstanding players, I think he’s as good as anybody in the country,” Tauer said. “But more important, I think he’s made a positive impact with all of our coaches, our players and throughout our program.”

Brady Halbmaier can be reached at halb2084@stthomas.edu.