How Kelly Olynyk embraced redshirt year before All-American season at Gonzaga: ‘He worked his tail off'

Gonzaga men's basketball strength and conditioning coach Travis Knight said Olynyk's turnaround 'was all internal' and that he embraced the year off

Jan 12, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward and Gonzaga alumni Kelly Olynyk watches a game between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first half at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Based on his first two seasons at Gonzaga, very few could’ve foreseen Kelly Olynyk’s All-American campaign coming in 2013.

As a freshman, the floppy-haired Canadian averaged fewer than 4.0 points in about 12 minutes per game. The next season he averaged 5.8 points (while shooting 44.4% from 3-point range). 

“[Olynyk] was so frustrated by many things that he could potentially control,” said Travis Knight, Gonzaga men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach. “For him, his particular issues were around athleticism, but they were really around balance, body control, some pieces like that.”

In a shock to some, Olynyk opted to redshirt the 2011-12 season. As the idea of “one-and-dones” was becoming more popular in college basketball, so was the fixation on having instant results. Most players who redshirted were transfers who had to sit out a year due to old NCAA rules.

But the idea of playing the long game wasn’t forced upon Olynyk by anyone. 

“The way he embraced it, and it has really shaped a lot of how I think about scaling that for other players, is, the turnaround was all internal,” Knight said. “He worked his tail off, but when you’re removed from the need to be at a certain state for game, where you have to have a physical readiness and a freshness … when you don’t have that anymore, you can literally push the envelope so hard. And I think that was really exciting for him.”

Knight, who played baseball at Gonzaga from 1998-1999 before taking on his current role with the men’s basketball team, incorporated some of what he learned on the diamond in his workouts with Olynyk.

“The game is about how fast can you move, how quick can you stop, how many options can you see and process,” Knight said. “And so we had such a blast doing that, and I think that’s where baseball kind of helped cause baseball is a very hand-eye coordination, there’s a lot of just quick reaction balance stuff involved. We kinda brought a little baseball to basketball and it just took off.”

Olynyk returned to the court a different player in the 2012-13 season. The Bulldogs earned the program’s first No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll behind  Olynyk’s resurgence, as he averaged 17.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks to earn consensus All-American honors. All while looking the part of an eventual NBA player. 

Olynyk was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2013 draft by the Dallas Mavericks, who then traded his draft rights to the Boston Celtics. Since then Olynyk has had 11 productive seasons in the association while playing for six different teams. 

“Kelly’s had an incredible career," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said in a recent press conference. "He’s done what he does best, man. He’s just a really really smart, tough, really good basketball player and that’s why he fits in great everywhere. He was with [Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra] in Miami, you know, and he’d just be great on any team cause he’s a great teammate, he knows how to play and he’s tough, he’s a winner and I think that’s why he’s done so well and lasted so long in the league.” 

Knight shared more about Olynyk’s career at Gonzaga, and much more, on a new Gonzaga Nation episode.

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE BELOW:

Produced by Thomas Gallagher.

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