Note: This is the first of several looks at the 2010-2011 Hoyas.
Ryan Dougherty is a senior walk-on point guard who sometimes doubled as the human victory cigar (copyright: Darko Milicic) last year, appearing in 10 games, all of which the Hoyas won, and logging 13 minutes. As with previous walk-ons (walks-on?), the sight of Dougherty checking in to the game was so linked to an impending double-digit victory that he gets favorable marks from Hoya fans everywhere. Alas, his in-game contributions were modest, as the sum total of his points, rebounds, and assists was zero. With the arrival of Markel Starks and Aaron Bowen and the departure of no minutes earners from last year’s back-court, Dougherty’s opportunities figure to be similarly slim this year. But the collective goodwill Hoyas fans feel for him cannot be reduced to brute statistics, and we can only hope for an uptick in minutes for him this year (and in the number of routes his appearances punctuate).
John Caprio is Dougherty’s heir-apparent, a 6’5″, 210 lb. freshman walk-on out of Seton Hall Prep. He was a bit of a surprise addition to this year’s class; by all accounts, the first fans heard of him was at the annual NSO Pep Rally, this September. Despite his low profile and walk-on status, Caprio is no slouch. He notched a 20-20 in a playoff game last year, and a gaudy 23-17-9-5-4 in another. (One of the four blocks looked highlight-reel worthy.) He reportedly transformed himself as a senior, vaulting from just two double-figure-scoring games the year before to averaging roughly 18 per. With veterans Austin Freeman, Jason Clark, and Hollis Thompson devouring the lion’s share of the minutes at the 2 and 3, and freshman Bowen filling in the remainder, Caprio likely won’t have many excuses to take off his warm-ups this year. But hopefully he’ll be able to at least get the crowd a bit fired up (as he did at Midnight Madness) while he bides his time.
