TOWSON, Md. - Since they joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 2001-02, Towson's men's basketball team has had numerous players receive accolades. Gary Neal earned first team All-CAA honors in 2006-07 and was a second team pick in 2005-06. Junior Hairston earned third team notice twice in 2007-08 and 2008-09 while Brian Allen tied for the league lead in assists and steals in 2001-02, while earning CAA All-Defensive Team honors.

But most recently, Towson has had a player who may have surpassed expectations of any previous athlete considering he went from being a walk-on to earning CAA All-Defensive Team status in three years.

Senior Robert Nwankwo, listed at 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, came to Towson out of Parkdale H.S. and played just 42 minutes in his first season as a freshman walk-on.

Nwankwo's numbers have steadily improved from his freshman season as he averaged 4.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while recording 49 blocks and shooting 52.7% from the field in 2008-09. But, it was during his junior season, when the walk-on earned a scholarship, that Nwankwo went from a contributor to an impact player in the CAA.

In 2009-10, he started 24 of 27 games and led the CAA in rebounding (9.2 per game), field goal percentage (.565) and blocked shots (3.2 per game). Nwankwo's numbers were strong enough to rank in the top 10 nationally in blocks and top 50 in rebounds. He also recorded eight double-doubles to rank third among all CAA players.

The 22-year old, who also spent three years in Nigeria where he played soccer instead of basketball, wasn't your prototypical post player. When Nwankwo began at Towson as a walk-on, he was a gangly player who was adept at blocking shots but wasn't strong enough to develop much of a post game.

As the years went on, Nwankwo got stronger due to hard work in the weight room. In 2010-11, he sat out due to an academic credits issue and was not allowed to practice.

Nwankwo's rebounding and defense were missed on a team that went 4-26 overall and 0-18 in the conference.

"Last year was my time to get better over the summer," said Nwankwo. "I worked on a couple of things and got my mind set right."

Nobody was happier for Nwankwo to return other than Towson Coach Pat Skerry. The first-year coach needed an anchor in the middle and a proven frontcourt player with Braxton Dupree leaving to play professionally and Isaiah Philmore transferring to Xavier.

"He's in tremendous condition," said Skerry. "There is some rust. He's had some great plays in practice. I'd like to see him carry that over. We might have to play some zone to keep him out of foul trouble. He's a little more disciplined."

The senior has also had to take more of a leadership role as the only senior on the team.

"(I need to) talk more," said Nwankwo. "I have to get in these guys' heads and let them know how important this is. They are young and really don't know or understand the impact they have right now. This is the time to show it off. I have to talk to these guys and make sure their minds are right."

Towson struggled in exhibition play, showing its lack of experience and cohesion on the court while defeating Holy Family by 51-43 but losing to Virginia State, 50-43.
 
"We can't take spurts where we're not doing anything on the court," said Nwankwo. "We have to get our minds right to play 40 minutes of basketball."
 
There is always an adjustment period when a new coaching staff comes in. However, this is a very unusual situation with just nine scholarship players available and only two with experience in Nwankwo and sophomore Erique Gumbs.
 
"Nothing against the last coaching staff, but this coaching staff is a lot tougher in terms of getting players' minds ready for everything on and off the court," said Nwankwo. "We weren't like that last year."
 
Towson is trying to build for the future this season by placing an emphasis on defense and rebounding. There's no better player to lead that charge than Robert Nwankwo.