Troy forward Nick Stampley could be in for a breakout season

There isn’t much on paper from last season’s Trojan basketball squad that will put a smile on Troy head coach Scott Cross’ face.

The Trojans finished 9-22 and lost its final seven games of the season in Cross’ first year. Only five players are back up from that team but one of them is senior and Broward County native Nick Stampley.

Stampley is Troy’s active leader in minutes played through just one season, even more than fellow big and only third-year Trojan Zay Williams. A quick glance at the box score doesn’t exactly explain why someone averaging just over five points and about five rebounds a game is logging such reliable playing time.

It’s the tape, the heart and the leadership that keeps Stampley on the floor. Those who watched Troy basketball last season know what Stampley brings to the table on a nightly basis. His spatial awareness and sharp timing made him a charge-taking machine last season.

Troy took 80 charges as a team in 2019-20 and a whopping 32 of them came from Stampley. For more context, no other Trojan reached double-digit charge calls. Darian Adams came in second with nine.

His defense and rebounding are known strengths, but the forward didn’t make a huge splash on the opposite end of the floor in his first year at Troy.

Stampley wasn’t an offensive threat last season and only reached double-digit scoring five times in 31 games. His 15 percent possession usage was the lowest on the entire team. Albeit an efficient inside scorer, his true shooting numbers took a nosedive once his three point shot is factored in. The big hoisted up 36 three balls and watched just four of them go in, half of those four came in one game.

Instead of throttling back on deep balls this year, Cross said Stampley could go from team-worst to one of the Sun Belt’s best three-point shooters.

“I honestly think he’s going to be one of the best three-point shooters in the league,” Cross said. “I know that’s going out on a limb if you look at the percentages but if you watch him in practices… he’s shooting the ball extremely well. Once he gets his confidence going he’s going to be a big time threat from three.”

As a team, Troy relied on the three ball more than nearly any other in the country but wasn’t particularly efficient, shooting a pedestrian 31.8 percent.

A new Stampley and a bigger emphasis on playing inside-out could elevate Troy’s shooting numbers and put the Trojans in more and better positions to put away games.

“He’ll have a green light for us,” Cross said. “He shoots it like some of my guys that have shot 45 percent from the three point line in years past. There are days where he’s knocking down 10 in a row on his own.”

As well as being an adept inside scorer, Cross said Stampley has excelled in pick-and-pop situations in practice, further adding to his game.

Troy was the only team in the Sun Belt to shoot under 40 percent from the field last year. With a newcomer-heavy roster and a potentially rebranded Stampley, that could very much change in a major way this coming season.