Mid-Major Madness Year in Review: Mike Muscala Man Crush

Mike Muscala is a folk hero around these parts. He was the player that all season long proved that he was one of the best in college basketball and he received almost zero recognition for it.

When he graduated at the end of last season, he left a gaping hole in Bucknell's lineup, one that they have had mixed success at filling this year. And the reason that he left that hole is that he is maybe one of the most valuable players to ever step on a college basketball floor.

That is not exaggeration. We have the numbers to back it up. And we showed off those numbers as part of our preview for the Bucknell - Butler second round NCAA Tournament game.

I know people are skeptical. If a player was that good, then why didn't he get drafted in the first round, and why didn't he make an NBA squad? I don't have all the answers for that. Given the way that the two top performers from the previous season (Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard) have performed, you would think this would be a no-brainer.

But Muscala is off in Europe and he will make a name for himself before too long and my guess is that someone is going to take a chance on the Moose.

We probably wrote more words about Muscala than any other player last season other than Doug McDermott, and for good reason: he was a massive pleasure to watch play basketball.

Here is our Mike Muscala Man Crush, once again.