Ryan Spangler: One of the Most Underrated College Players This Season
Ryan Spangler is one of those blue-collar players that every college team needs to be a consistent winner. He comes to work every game and does a lot of the dirty work that has to be done to win ball games, but doesn’t draw the same attention or praise that the big offensive guns receive.
Spangler is in his third season as an Oklahoma starter. His main contribution is in rebounding, a category in which he ranks second in the Big 12 this season, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game. He has had five games this season in which he has snared 14 or more boards per game, including a season- and career-high 18 rebounds in Oklahoma’s first loss of the season, at Kansas, after opening the season with 12 consecutive wins.
Spangler also contributes offensively. He averages 10.6 points per game, but in two games this season he has doubled his average. He scored 20 points in OU’s wins this season over both Wisconsin and Iowa State and has scored a dozen or more points in six games this season.
The 6-8 senior forward from Tuttle, Okla., the same town that produced Oklahoma Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jason White, does most of his offensive work down low, but he has proven very capable this season of popping outside and putting in the three-ball, as well. Midway through the 2015-16 season, Spangler has hit 19 of 49, or 39 percent, of his three-point shots. A year ago, he took only 33 shots from behind the three-point line, connecting on 10 of them.
Spangler is one of four Oklahoma starters who have started 86 consecutive games for the Sooners over the past three seasons. He transferred from Gonzaga after his freshman season in 2012. Since then, the Zags’ loss has been a huge gain for the Sooners.
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