Past Articles
Honorable Mentions: RJ Walker, Seth Moan, Keegan Oyugi, Anthony DiLoreto, Bryce Williams
No. 10: Roland Owczarek
No. 9: Gunnar Ledin

ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. --- At number eight in our countdown is another player who didn't complete a full four-year career for Crown College. One of the (many) things that make this particular player unique is that he had probably the worst single season of any of the players on this list in his first year with the Storm. He is also one of two players to play for a previous coaching staff before Coach Herbert's arrival in 2010. Rebounding from that tough first campaign to record two all-time seasons is David Glover.

After transferring to Crown with four seasons of eligibility intact, Glover arrived to play in 24 games as a first-year, starting zero of them and averaging 12.7 minutes per contest. Dave was never shy and got up a shot every 2.8 minutes, with over 65% of his field-goal attempts coming from beyond the arc. The problem was, in that first season, Dave didn't make many, going 19-70 from three-point range (27.1%). He finished that year with 90 total points.

Coach Inder Singh, who played two seasons with Dave, recounts his teammate's mindset as a coaching change took place that spring/summer. "Dave came into that season with a lot to prove and he worked hard to be ready for it. I remember all the running he did that offseason and he was so good from Coach Herbert's first practice on."

Dave himself recognized the steps that he needed to take, saying, "After my first year I realized that if I was going to accomplish any of the goals that I had set out for myself I needed to seriously overhaul and improve my conditioning and style of play. So that summer I changed my diet, started running 6-8 miles a day, and began working on different aspects of my game (dropped 40+ pounds while improving my shooting release and increasing my range)."

It was also clear that the new offensive system implemented after the coaching change benefited the 6'4 forward. 

"Dave played the five (center) for us, but was basically a shooting guard," remembers coach Herbert. "The beauty of our style of play was that Dave was almost always guarded by the other team's biggest player, but had the opportunity to play (and shoot) from the perimeter, making him a tough matchup for most teams. He thrived shooting off screens and as a second cutter and never really looked back."

It's not uncommon for players to improve over the years, and many players take their biggest jump from their first-year to sophomore year, but a turnaround like this is almost unheard of. Glover had his best statistical season as a sophomore, blowing his first-year numbers away. He went from averaging 3.8 ppg to a whopping 14.8, improved his overall shooting percentage by 10.5 points, over doubled his rebounds per game (2.3 to 4.8) and most remarkably hit 40.1% of his threes on over twice the attempts (61-152) – an improvement of 13% from the year before.  

He followed that season up with another great one, again averaging over 14 points per game and shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc. In those final two seasons, Glover recorded the 12th and 15th best single-season scoring marks and the 9th and 10th best seasons for 3pt%. Those seasons are all the more impressive due to the volume of attempts as Dave clocks in with the eighth-best single-season mark for threes made (61 in 2010-11) and the second-best single-season (76 in 2011-12). For a long time, Glover was also tied with a handful of players for the most threes made in a single game, before that record was broken by our No. 9 player, Gunnar Ledin.

Despite graduating and not playing a senior season, Glover rode those two remarkable seasons to the seventh-highest career points total in the NCAA-era, tallying 812 points over three campaigns. He also ranks seventh in field goals made with 286 and fifth in three-point field goals with 156. His 37.7% career mark from beyond the arc is also good for fifth all-time. A durable player, Glover holds down the ninth position for minutes played (1,754) and is eighth for games started (48), while also sneaking into the top ten for blocks.

The career numbers are excellent, and deserving of a place on this list, especially considering they were accomplished in just three seasons. Dave was more than just a stat line, however, explains coach Herbert.

"Dave was a player who could win you a game. Perhaps the two most notable examples are my first win as a head coach and the last game of Dave's career. He's also the first player I ever called an isolation play for!"

Glover counts that last moment as one of the most memorable. 

"We were down by two at home against North Central with 15 seconds remaining and in the huddle during a timeout. [Coach Herbert] started to draw up a play on the board and then erased it and looked at me and said, 'Get the ball to Dave and get out of the way. Go win it for us!' I scored and got fouled, hit the free throw, but we lost on a buzzer-beater! The confidence coach had in me at that moment, with the game on the line, is something that I will never forget." 

In that first win of the 2010-11 season, Crown traveled to Presentation College for a UMAC matchup. Glover had the most efficient game of his career, totaling a career-high 31 points on 11-13 shooting and a 6-7 mark from deep.

Performances like that also helped raise the profile of Crown basketball around the conference, but also on campus.  

"I remember my first year trying to get students to come support the basketball team and getting little response. Fast forward to my last game and the stands are packed and [the] crowd is loud. It was an incredible transformation," remembers Glover.

That last game was another of "The Freight Train's" signature performances. Having decided to pursue career opportunities after graduation and having been eliminated from postseason contention due to other results in the conference the night before, Glover knew this would be his last game with the Storm.  

As chance would have it, that opponent was Bethany Lutheran College, the school Dave had transferred from three years prior. The Vikings were also sitting at 13-0, aiming to complete a perfect conference season on their way to the playoffs.  

The game was a back and forth affair throughout, with Crown's six-point advantage in the first half being the outlier in a game that was most often within a single possession. The favored Vikings steadily worked their way out to a ten-point lead with 9:05 remaining and led by seven with just 3:45 on the clock. A 13-6 Crown run to finish the game sent the contest to overtime and set the stage for Glover's heroics.  

After a trio of sloppy possession by each team, then student-assistant Anthony Di Loreto (who was mentioned in the one-year wonder section of this list) suggested, "Should we just run something for Dave," as opposed to sticking with the team's base motion offense.  

That's exactly what the Storm did, and Glover came up to the top of the key off a double screen and buried a three to give Crown the lead. Two possession later he would hit a long two from a similar set and Crown would go on to win the game 78-74.  

Beyond the two big shots in the extra period, Glover finished with 29 points on 10-14 shooting (6-9 3PT).

"In my opinion, it was as close to a perfect ending as I could have hoped for as I started my career with Bethany and transferred out to play and finish my career with Crown."

Today, Dave is married to his longtime sweetheart Megan and living in Eagan, MN. The couple has an 11-month-old son Russell. Dave works at 3M as a Regional Distribution Leader and still keeps in touch with many of his Crown teammates.  

I can also confirm that Dave still has unlimited range and is not at all afraid to shoot it!