During the Eastern men’s basketball team’s 2003-04 season, Bobby Catchings was frustrated.

The team was in the midst of a 6-21 season, and Catchings was doing something he wasn’t used to – watching.

Catchings sat out last season as a redshirt and entered this season ready to contribute.

“It was frustrating watching us lose games, especially close games that we should have won,” Catchings said.

But in the Panthers’ first game at DePaul, Catchings didn’t feel like himself.

“I was nervous,” he said. “I didn’t want to make any mistakes or do anything that would lower (Eastern head) coach (Rick) Samuels’ opinion of me.”

Nerves kept Catchings from being the explosive scorer the Panthers needed.

“We’ve talked with him about being more aggressive to the basket,” Samuels said.

And as soon as the 6-foot-6 guard stopped worrying about making mistakes, his aggression and instincts began to show up in his game.

“I was robotic,” he said. “But you’ve just got to play; you don’t have time to think out there,” he said.

Now that he isn’t thinking as much, Samuels said people are beginning to see the player they hoped for.

“We’re seeing the kinds of things we expected to see from Bobby,” Samuels said. “And we’ll continue to see them if he keeps maturing and getting more confident.”

Samuels said Catchings’ tall frame and athletic arms make him a tough defensive match-up for Eastern opponents.

“If he matures physically and becomes more aggressive going to the rim, he’s tough to guard in there,” Samuels said. “At his size being primarily a wing player, most of the time teams have to match him with someone smaller.”

Catchings is averaging 8.2 points per game in his freshman season, third best on the team. However, his offensive production has risen as the Ohio Valley Conference season has gone on. Catchings has scored over 10 points in three of the last four Eastern contests.

Samuels said Catchings can also get the job done on the perimeter.

“He’s got great range, and it doesn’t take him too long to get his shot off,” Samuels said.

Over Eastern’s last six contests, he’s connecting on just over 50 percent of his three-point shots, making 9 out of 17.

But all the statistics in the world don’t show the biggest difference in Catchings’ contribution, he said.

“Now, I’m so much more relaxed,” he said. “I’m out there laughing and having fun, just playing basketball.”