Over the course of its history Incarnate Word’s men’s basketball program has won close to 500 games while showcasing some impressive individual players. There is an elite, small group of stars who put together impressive lists of honors for their time on campus. Include Pierce Caldwell.
Four years ago, in the fall of 2006, the San Antonio Marshall High School product showed up on the UIW campus as a walk-on, meaning he had no athletic scholarship help. He just wanted a chance to play. Indeed, the Cardinals coaches knew about him and he came armed with recommendations from his supporters. All that got him was the opportunity to show up on the first day of fall drills, be issued a set of practice gear and hope for the best.
Oh, there was something else. Every day over the summer, a habit he continued until his final day on the team, Caldwell got up 300 to 500 shots on his own. He absolutely was determined to prove his worth because Incarnate Word, in his hometown, was his only chance.
“Whenever I think about Incarnate Word,” Caldwell said recently, “I think about how I got the opportunity to play here. This is the only place that gave me a chance.” That chance paid off.
First year, the 6-3 guard was Heartland Conference freshman of the year and league leader in three-pointers made. Plus he set UIW school marks for three’s made both in a season and for a career, after just one year.
Year two began his remarkable roll. He was d2basketball.com All-America honorable mention as well as Daktronics All-South Central Region honorable mention. And he begin an unprecedented three-year run of being the Heartland’s player of the year.
His third year found him picking up some new hardware. In addition to being the league player of the year he added Heartland tournament MVP to his list along with being a Division II Bulletin All-America honorable mention.
This past season, his senior year, he again collected all the honors afforded by the Heartland—player of the year, all-conference, tournament MVP. He returned to the Daktronics all-region team. All of this is hardware. It doesn’t outline his statistics, or where his name will appear in the Incarnate Word record book.
Pierce Caldwell made 61 consecutive free throws.
As he is finished with his on-court time at UIW he is walking away as top five in an amazing 11 different statistical areas. For instance, he is first in three’s made (842); it’s not even close. He is the all-time leader in free throw percentage (.873). And from the end of the 2008-2009 campaign and mid-point of the 2009-2010 season he made a school record 61 consecutive free throws. And he is now the number two all-time scoring leader at UIW with his cumulative 1,873 points. And the list goes on.
More and more over the 2009-2010 season UIW Coach Ken Burmeister talked about Caldwell being the heart of the team, the foundation, the very soul of the group. And for good reason because over and above all the glittering numbers Caldwell was about winning.
In his four years at UIW the Cardinals won a total of 81 games. They captured two Heartland titles, both regular season and tournament, and they made consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II regional tournament. That is the bottom line.
“It’s been great being part of this program,” Caldwell concluded, “and seeing it grow.”