Symir Torrence is able to make others better. It's earning the Marquette freshman more minutes.
The freshman point guard is starting to earn more playing time for the Golden Eagles and his ability to make crisp passes is standing out.
Symir Torrence is able to make others better. It's earning the Marquette freshman more minutes. The freshman point guard is starting to earn more playing time for the Golden Eagles and his ability to make crisp passes is standing out. Check out this story on jsonline.com: https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2019/12/19/symir-torrence-earning-playing-time-marquette-passing-skills/2691517001/
Ben Steele, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 5:34 p.m. CT Dec. 19, 2019 | Updated 5:47 p.m. CT Dec. 19, 2019
Marquette freshman guard Symir Torrence goes after the ball against Kansas State guard David Sloan. (Photo: Scott Sewell, Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports)
Before he even played a game at Marquette, Symir Torrence made it clear what he would bring to the Golden Eagles this season.
"I would say passing," he said at the team's media day in October. "Getting guys involved and being a good teammate and being a leader even though I'm a freshman."
The point guard is starting to earn more playing time and his ability to make crisp passes is standing out. In the last two games, Torrence has recorded eight assists and no turnovers in 35 minutes. He'll look to keep up that production as the Golden Eagles (8-2) face North Dakota State (8-4) Friday at Fiserv Forum.
"He's dependable," MU coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "And he's smart offensively. He goes to bat and tries to hit singles. And he hits a lot of them. As a result, he makes other guys better."
"I think he's got a great feel on the offensive end. I think Sy has shown that he can really help us."
Torrence has always found the best way to fit on a team. In middle school, the Syracuse, New York, native's talent drew the attention of the powerhouse AAU program City Rocks.
"What stood out to me about Symir at first was his smile, his exuberance coupled with his toughness on the court," said Jim Hart, the director of City Rocks. "And that was from an early age."
The City Rocks teams were loaded with talent from Upstate and Western New York: Isaiah Stewart (a five-star recruit now at the University of Washington), Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse), Joe Girard (Syracuse), Mika Adams-Woods (Cincinnati) and Andre Jackson (committed to play at Connecticut next season).
"Symir was dialed into, from Day 1, as 'What does this coach want me to do so that I can earn more time and help our team win?' " Hart said. "So the passing part of it is borne of – if he was the kid in the sandbox and he had two shovels and the other kid had none, he'd hand him one of his. He's a sharing-type guy."
At Vermont Academy, Torrence was at first a set-up guy for Simi Shittu and then a primary scorer once Shittu moved on to one season at Vanderbilt and then a professional career.
"In management or in corporations, you've got to be a good self-assessor," said Hart, who is also an adviser at Merrill Lynch. "Assess where I am going to add value to the team. What should my role be here? And most people aren't good at self-assessing. I think Symir is.
"And the unique thing is when he needs to score, he scores. When he was at Vermont Academy, he started scoring a lot. He scored good for us this spring. Yet the year before when we had Isaiah Stewart, Girard, all those guys, he was there facilitating."
MU assistant coach Dwayne Killings started recruiting Torrence when Killings was on the staff at Connecticut. All of Torrence's selfless traits jumped out immediately watching the guard as a sophomore at Vermont Academy.
"You watch this young kid on the court who made Simi better," Killings said. "Just the quality of passes, telling him to be in the right spots. Pushing him to run the floor. He's talking on defense. He's doing all these things to a kid (Shittu) who in reality is going to be making a million dollars playing basketball in a matter of months.
"But he's making that kid better. So immediately I said, 'This is a guy you want in your program.' He helps you win."
Once Killings was hired at MU in 2018, it was easy convincing Wojciechowski that Torrence should be a priority recruit.
"He's a kid that, if you don't pay attention, you don't value what he does," Killings said. "But if you sit down and watch him, you're like, 'Wow. He's the reason why they won those games.'
"Then you start to talk to him and you see his character. You meet his family and you see what he's about and what he values, there's no way you don't want a kid like that in your program. Coach (Wojciechowski) fell in love with him as a player and a person really fast."
Torrence was originally a 2020 recruit, but he reclassified to join the Golden Eagles this season. There was some debate about redshirting, but Torrence wanted to compete for minutes.
"He said, 'Hey I think I can go out here and help this team win,'" Killings said. "It might be a big role some nights and some nights it might not be."
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The Golden Eagles had 27 assists on 29 field goals in their victory over Grambling State on Tuesday. Torrence was a big part of that, whether directly like his feed to Ed Morrow Jr. for a highlight slam on an inbounds pass or just facilitating some beautiful ball swings with on-time, on-target passes.
"It's simple plays," Killings said. "But all of a sudden, you look around and you say like, 'Wow, that's part of the reason why Jamal Cain had a really good game. That's part of the reason why Greg Elliott knocked down some shots. And that helps guys get in a rhythm really fast.
"And that's all (Torrence) wants. He loves that. Whether it's Ed Morrow getting a dunk or Jamal Cain hitting a three or somebody making a simple layup. His face lights up because, at the end of the day, he knows he made somebody better."