The Energizer Dawg

SEATTLE -- Darnell Gant's highlights in this week's press notes include the fact that he redshirted last year, how many games he's started and that he was a top recruit out of high school.

That's it.

Nothing about his scoring average. Nothing about a big performance in a recent game. Nothing about grabbing a ton of rebounds.

But here's the thing, Gant, a 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman forward who averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds as a senior at Crenshaw High School in Los Angles, is just fine with his role as, well, a role player.

"That's a role I'm fine with," said Gant, a surprise starter this season. "As long as we're winning I'm happy. It's helping to diversify me as player, to help me do things other than be able to score."

Halfway through Pacific-10 Conference play, the Huskies are tied with UCLA for first place, and appear to be headed back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006. When talking about the team's turnaround, most people outside the program will talk about the addition of freshman guard Isaiah Thomas, the improved play of Justin Dentmon or the continued impressive play of Jon Brockman.

But Darnell Gant? His name doesn't come up too often.

Though he has started every game, and almost certainly will start at forward again tonight when the Huskies play at California, Gant ranks only eighth on the team in scoring with 3.1 points per game. He has attempted just 73 field goals and only 21 free throw in those 21 games. But Gant is also second on the team with 12 blocks, and more importantly, is among the team leaders in less measurable categories like hustle plays and defensive energy.

The stats don't adequately show what kind of impact he had guarding James Harden, one of the conference's best players, in Washington's win at Arizona State on Saturday.

"He's a versatile defender that can guard three or four different positions, and he brings us a lot of energy," said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, who compares Gant to former Husky Bobby Jones. "He makes other players better, he goes out and sets screens probably better than any player we have and he's very comfortable doing it. He's an intangible guy. (Those kind of players) are always underappreciated, but their coaches and teammates always know their value, and you don't win without him."

Gant's more heralded teammates know that the numbers they put up, as well as the team's success, have something to do with role players like Gant and Justin Holiday.

"I think he and Holiday are underappreciated," Dentmon said. "The things they do don't show up on the stat sheet, but it's crazy everything they do -- blocked shots, hustle plays. That kind of stuff throughout the course of a game is what gets you wins. When you have those kind of guys that are willing to do that and not worry about scoring, that gets you wins."

Gant also has impressed his teammates off the court. During the team's trip to Kansas City earlier this season, Dentmon walked into the hotel lobby where the Huskies were staying, and heard piano music that he assumed was playing over the lobby speakers. It turns out the music was being played by Gant, who has played the piano since he was 10 and the drums since he was five. Gant, who comes from a family of musicians, also writes his own music and lyrics, though he said he doesn't sing as well as he plays.

Many of the country's top recruits view college basketball as an inconvenient but necessary stop on the way to the NBA. They put in their year, then declare for the draft as soon as possible. Gant, on the other hand, looks at college as an opportunity to improve as a player and is in no hurry to finish. That's why he asked to redshirt -- something that doesn't frequently happen in college hoops--rather than try to play last season.

"I was really looking at the big picture instead of just looking at it like I need to do what I need to do to get out of here and get to the next level," he said. "That's not what I was thinking. I mean, I'm not saying that the next level isn't a goal, I'm just saying the next level is always going to be there, so I have more time to try to get better and get there."

Romar said that decision is paying off for Gant in a big way.

"It's a shame that more don't do that," Romar said. "People think it's a putdown to redshirt, but it's not at all."

It was expected that Matthew Bryan-Amaning would start alongside Brockman in the frontcourt this season, but when Bryan-Amaning went down with an ankle, knee and hip injury before Washington's season opener, Gant moved into the starting lineup and never relinquished the spot.

"Darnell stepped in and we haven't been able to get him out of there," said Romar.

And if the wins keep coming, it's unlikely the Huskies will try to get Gant out of the lineup anytime soon.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog