Sophomore forward Will Chevalier is taking a redshirt year, head coach Linc Darner announced prior to Green Bay’s season opening 110-54 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran on Tuesday morning at the Kress Events Center.

The 6’8” big man from nearby Kimberly will sit out this season but maintain the year of eligibility meaning he will enter next season as a redshirt sophomore.

He appeared in 26 games for Green Bay last season as a true freshman but played sparingly, averaging 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in a little over eight minutes per game.

Darner would’ve preferred to redshirt Chevalier last season but with Cody Schwartz and Sandy Cohen already sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules, the Phoenix needed players.

“Last year would have been a perfect year, but we were thin,” Darner told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “Give him a year where he can get in the weight room. … A year of being older, look at our guys who are older. A year of being older always helps.”

Photo via Green Bay Athletics

Chevalier did have a few impressive showings last season including scoring 9 points on 3-6 shooting from beyond the arc in a loss at Mississippi State and 11 points on 3-7 shooting from beyond the arc in a loss at Missouri.

But moving forward, Green Bay will need him to beef up and become more of an inside presence in addition to his ability to stretch the floor with his outside shooting. Nearly 77% of Chevalier’s shot attempts last season were from behind the three point line.

Redshirting will also allow the Phoenix to balance their classes a little bit.  This season Green Bay does not have a scholarship freshman on the roster for the first time in recent memory but redshirting Chevalier would allow him to begin next season as the team’s lone scholarship sophomore instead of one of several players that will be juniors.

With twelve scholarship players likely to get minutes this season, Green Bay’s pair of walk-ons – freshman Bansi King and sophomore Tyrone Powell – will also redshirt this season.

“Get Will in the weight room and get him stronger,” Darner told the newspaper. “I don’t want to waste another year where he might not get a lot of minutes. We can’t play 13.”