Auburn Basketball Star Rebounds His Identity in Christ

For 119 years, the Auburn basketball program has produced some great players. None have more wins with the Tigers than center, Dylan Cardwell. He’s known for his smile and jubilant personality, but for Dylan, life wasn’t always so joyful. In high school, happiness was dependent on basketball alone.

“My identity was in basketball and my days would go as good as basketball went,” says Dylan. “So if I had good game, I had a good practice, I had the best day of my life. If I had a bad game or a bad practice I had a really bad day.”

After his junior season, Dylan transferred back to his home state of Georgia. However due to a transfer rule, he was ineligible to play and spent his entire senior season on the bench.

Will Dawson: How low did you get, how bad was it at certain times? Because at the time it probably felt like your world was being ripped apart.

Cardwell: “There would be days where I would go to school and I’d be having a great time and then as soon as I’d get in my car to head home I’d just feel empty because I was still practicing with the team, but I still  wasn’t able to play basketball on the court. And so it really just frustrated me. There would be days that I’d just cry myself to sleep and I would sit outside and cry to God and like ‘Why? Why am I going through this?’”

“And so the Lord really challenged me through a teacher of mine. She said ‘Maybe the Lord is trying to teach you, ‘Who is Dylan Cardwell without basketball?’ So she made me write a paper about who I am without basketball. It was very hard to go through. It was a year full of trial for me. But it really made me depend on God and the Lord kind of allowed me to build up this strength and routine of continuing to go to him in prayer and develop a relationship and have more faith in him for my deliverance,” says Dylan.

With offers from Tennessee and Georgia, Dylan ultimately decided to attend Auburn, where he believed he could grow in his faith. During his freshman year he began attending a church bible study, called the Freedom Group, which helped change his perspective.

“When I first got into the Freedom Group I was like, ‘Man, I don’t want to be here.’ Just a bunch of people that don’t look like me, to be frank. But when I first got in there, just the vulnerability of everybody in there in that group like the Lord put on my heart, ‘I need this!’ And so I started going every single week and asking the right questions and being a sponge, really being open. That’s the thing that they encouraged. They said, ‘Your sin grows in darkness so just let it all out.’”

Dylan was encouraged but he wasn’t ready to fully surrender his life to Jesus. He thought surrendering would mean giving up basketball.

“For me I was like, ‘Man, I don’t want to give my life to Christ, get hurt, and become a minister. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be a pastor. I don’t want to be a preacher. I just want to hoop,’” he says.

Until a friend shared with him something he’d never considered.

“He was like, ‘Man you can use basketball as your ministry. Like the Lord gave you this platform for a reason, to glorify Him. You don’t have to be on a stage to be in ministry.’”

Dawson: So that actually freed you up to say, ‘God has created me for a purpose. He’s given me the gifts he’s given me so I can go out and glorify him with them?

Cardwell: “Yeah, most definitely. I couldn’t see that before. Like I said, I was really fearful. I listened to these lies from the Devil that he’s going to take basketball away from me cause it had already been taken away from me before. I am 6’11” for a reason. I was built the way I was for a purpose, a purpose bigger than just putting a ball in a basket.“  

Dawson: “When you realized that, what changed on the basketball court?”

Cardwell: “Really I just started playing with more joy. The pressure of performance really went away. It just alleviated all the pressure for me and allowed me to play freer.”

Dylan began playing with a newfound freedom on the court and living for Christ off of it. And his teammates began to notice.

Denver Jones, Auburn Point Guard: “I even told Dylan he’s been a major impact on my life the way he carries himself so I try and just model myself of how much time he spends in the Bible studying. I try to model myself after that.”

In this, his final season, Auburn is the top seed in the NCAA tournament. Win or lose, Dylan’s goals are clear.

“We’re the number one team in the country. We’re honoring God, we’re glorifying God. It would be insane if we got to the national championship and these kids, ten, eleven years old, they see these guys, they’re glorifying God, they’re praying as a team. They see this. It’s normal. It’s cool. And that’s the opportunity I want. I don’t care about a national championship. I just want an opportunity to play for it so the Lord can give us a platform to continue to glorify Him.
He has saved me from myself, he’s saved me from my flesh. He saved me from weapons that have formed against me. He’s saved me from so much. So, I can’t live without him. I can’t author my life the way he has. I can’t protect myself from the seen and unseen like he has. And so for me, he means everything.”