Witten and Media by Barry Nixon.
Christian Caldozo is a shooting guard for the Greenville University Men’s Basketball Program. According to his teammates and coaches, Mr. Caldozo is a big contributor and shows great leadership to the team. Caldozo is a senior and has been a part of the program for three years now. Mr. Caldozo is from Los Angeles, California. Specifically, Caldozo grew up in Panorama City, California, which is a neighborhood in LA, within the San Fernando Valley. Caldozo states, “Growing up in Cali is different from most states. In Los Angeles, you grow in a fast-paced lifestyle.” Caldozo attended Genevieve High School and was a dominant player for the varsity team. He played varsity three out of his 4 years there and graduated in 2014. Caldozo faced many challenges in sports and the main one was a result of him being undersized and underestimated. Caldozo plans on wearing number 3 for his last college basketball season. He has one basketball player who inspires him to play hard and it is Kobe Bryant. He believes that as a child watching Kobe play is what challenged him to go as hard as he could and be the best that he could be.
Caldozo committed to the University in 2014-2015 and was a freshman for the Men’s Basketball Program. His freshman year was slightly challenging. The program went 13-12 overall while finishing 10-8 in conference play. The team averaged 74.8 points per game and shot 44.5 percent from the field right along with 34 percent from three-point. Sophomore year approached Caldozo, and he had the drive to be better than the previous year. For the 2015-2016 school year, the team went overall 13-13 and 12-6 in conference. They played a total of 26 games and averaged 112.8 points per game, shooting 41.4 percent from the field. The team shot 66.3 percent from the free throw line with an addition of 33.1 percent average from three. The stats were better but they still were not what he expected. As the 2016-2017 season approaches, he states, “This year will be a good year.” The team went 21-6 overall with a 14-4 conference record. The team averaged 129.7 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field. The team also shot 66.8 percent from the field and averaged 47 rebounds a game. Going into his senior year, Caldozo says that his main goal is to “win conference again and host the tournament, then win and go to the national tournament.”
One of the incoming freshmen noticed Cardozo’s leadership and role playing for the team. Davonte’ Hughes said, “He has a good commitment to the game and is a hard worker. He’s always there to push the next person to get better and tries to help the team get as a unit.”
Overall Caldozo is a big help to the program. Come support them as they take on Midnight Madness and wish this senior a great season. Look forward to seeing Caldozo impact the team this year. Go Panthers Basketball!
