Bucknell Player Spotlight: Mike Muscala

Story posted November 21, 2012 in CommRadio, Sports by Bradford Conners

In his sophomore season, he was named the 2010-11 Patriot League Player of the Year, conference tournament MVP, and an AP Honorable Mention All-American. He also led his team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in five years.

Last season, Bucknell’s Mike Muscala had another chance to be a hero.

Trailing 78-77 with time winding down in the Patriot League Championship Game, Muscala had the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game, but he saw a double team coming and made a poor pass to teammate Cameron Ayers. Ayers managed to corral the pass, but Bucknell had fallen into disarray offensively and could not get the ball back to Muscala, who could only watch as Ayers had his shot blocked to end Bucknell’s season, on its home floor, in heartbreaking fashion.

Left with an entire offseason to think back on the possession that denied the Bison a ticket to the Big Dance, Muscala and Bucknell have come out with a vengeance at the start of their 2012-2013 campaign. After opening the season with a hard-fought road win in Purdue, Bucknell knocked off George Mason, Niagara, New Mexico State, and West Alabama last week to improve to 5-0. The Bison will look to stay perfect when they travel to State College on Friday to take on Penn State.

This week has already been an extremely difficult one for Penn State basketball after hearing the crushing news that Tim Frazier would be out for the season with a ruptured Achilles. However, the Nittany Lions will have little time to mourn the loss of their star guard, as they will have their hands full trying to deal with Muscala and undefeated Bucknell on Friday.

After being named an All-Patriot League First Team performer in each of his last two years, Muscala, a 6-11, 234-pound forward/center from Roseville, Minnesota, is off to the best start of his career in his senior year. Through five games, Muscala is averaging a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds per game and was named the Patriot League Player of the Week for his performance last week.

Muscala predicates his offensive game on being able to score from anywhere on the court. In the post, his go-to move is his hook shot, which he is comfortable shooting with either hand. Muscala also has the ability to spread the floor with his high-arcing mid-range jumper and will even step outside the 3-point line on occasion.

To round out his offensive game, Muscala is one of the best free throw-shooting big men in the nation. He has gotten to the line 499 times in his college career and has converted 83% of his attempts.

Certainly, a dominant big man like Muscala will pose quite a few problems for a Penn State team that tends to struggle down low. However, Penn State head coach Pat Chambers views this difficult match-up as a much-needed learning experience that will help his team once they begin Big Ten play.

“Bucknell has a good big man and I wanted to play against a good Bucknell team,” Chambers said during Penn State’s media day. “That’s going to help us get ready. They are saying [Muscala] may be a first or second round pick for the NBA. That’s great. We need to play against that. We have to prepare for that.”

Muscala, who participated in a pre-NBA Draft camp in the offseason, certainly hopes that Chambers’ prediction is correct and his name will be called in the NBA Draft next June. However, scouts are worried about his lack of strength, saying that he will need to bulk up his frame if he wants to have a post presence at the next level.

If Muscala finds that he isn’t strong enough to battle with NBA big men, he could instead focus on his jump shooting and try to become a floor-spacing power forward. Muscala even suggested the possibility of patterning his game off of Dallas Mavericks’ star Dirk Nowitzki.

“I’m close to a seven footer and can shoot, and I definitely do take a lot of things from [Nowitzki’s] game,” Muscala said. He also added, jokingly, “I’m half-German.”

Whether or not Muscala can have an impact at the next level is yet to be seen, but there are several things that we can be sure of. He will continue to dominate the Patriot League in his senior season, and if he once again has the ball with a trip to March Madness on the line---this time, he’ll be the one taking the last shot.

Bradford Conners is a sophomore majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, e-mail btc5082@psu.edu.