Saluki guard Armon Fletcher elevates his game after move to forward spot

By Tom Weber, SIU Sports Information

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois junior guard Armon Fletcher is playing the best basketball of his career right now, leading the team in both scoring and rebounding in conference games. What’s even more impressive is he’s doing it from the power forward or “four” position.

After playing his first three seasons at SIU on the perimeter, the 6-foot-5 Fletcher was moved to the four-spot in mid-December to give the team a smaller, quicker look. He’s responded with some monster performances, including a 32-point, 14-rebound game at Valparaiso on Jan. 6. Both marks were career highs, as the Edwardsville, Illinois native became the first Saluki since Anthony Beane to top the 30-point plateau.

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Playing inside is not at all foreign to Fletcher.

“A lot of people don’t know that in high school I played the five (center),” he said. “Even in AAU I was guarding the biggest guy on the floor. Whatever the team needs me to do — if it’s move to the four spot — I have the skills ”

Fletcher is a difficult matchup for most forwards because of his outstanding athleticism, ball-handling and perimeter shooting ability. In fact, he may be the most explosive athlete on the team. Since the move to forward, he’s averaging 15.5 points and 5.9 rebounds. His Valley numbers are even better at 16.0 and 7.8.

“I try to use my size and quickness to my advantage,” he explained. “The coaches really don’t want me posting up. They want me to have a lot of face-up baskets, spread the floor out and get those four-men out on the wing and try to attack those guys. In the game at Valparaiso, I tried to make myself available and my teammates did a good job of finding me. I wasn’t even aware of how many points I was scoring.”

While the points and rebounds have flowed freely on the offensive end, matching up on the defensive side has been a greater challenge, where Fletcher is sometimes at a height disadvantage.

“I think the Bradley game was a little more difficult for me because their four-man (Donte Thomas) posted up a lot more,” Fletcher said. “He’s 6-8 and has pretty good weight to him. It’s just something I have to get used to doing. I have to do a good job of fronting the post and denying the pass. The good thing about it is they have to come down on the other end and guard me, too.”

One area where Fletcher has made great strides during his career is his physique. He arrived on campus as a freshman weighing just 185 pounds. Four years later, he’s up to 207 and can squat 450 pounds in the weight room.

“I think it’s just body maturity,” he said. “My metabolism was really high when I was young — it was kind of hard to gain weight. I’ve always had a big appetite, so that wasn’t my problem. Then this last summer I really hit the weights hard and strengthened my legs and core.”

He credits strength coach Meade Smith for helping both himself and his teammates make significant strength gains across the board.

“Meade’s had a tremendous impact on me,” Fletcher said. “He’s one of those guys who is good at getting under your skin to make you work harder. A lot of people don’t know how important he is to our program because he works behind the scenes, but he does whatever he can to make you better physically. Everybody bought-in to the weight room this summer.”

A recreation major, Fletcher hopes to have a lengthy pro basketball career after he finishes college, and then use the proceeds to help others. He has a soft spot in his heart for kids.

“I know the game of basketball won’t last forever,” he said. “My goal is to make some money with pro ball and use that money to give back to the community and open up some centers for kids, create jobs for the community, and give those kids some mentors to look up to so they know they can do well in school and accomplish anything they want to.”