More on Egner

[Hilltopper]

After reading this, I see why the Zips wanted this guy.

Canton Rep Story

Impact player?

Ask Toledo St. John’s. Egner ripped the Titans for 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting in last week’s regional final. He beat them off the dribble, including a nifty reverse layup. He drilled two 3s. He hammered home dunks.

That type of versatility comes from being the hard-working son of a coach, and it’s earned him a basketball scholarship to Akron.

“Since I was 5 I’ve worked with my dad,” the 18-year-old said this week after practice. “That’s our biggest common bond, definitely.”

His father coached Josh in grade school and then helped out with his AAU teams once he reached middle school. Not that Josh looked like a future Division I college basketball player then.

“I was actually really fat when I was little,” Josh said. “I grew a lot between seventh and eighth grade. I just kept growing and I got some bounce when I was in high school, so that was nice.”

Some bounce is an understatement. After increasing his leaping ability by working out at High Intensity Training in Green, Josh possesses a 37-inch vertical leap that allows him to produce NBA-quality dunks rarely seen at Jackson.

“I think it’s funny because we’ll go to AAU tournaments and stuff like that and people will come watch the white kid dunk,” said Josh, who spent the last three summers playing on the King James Shooting Stars AAU team sponsored by LeBron James.

Josh views his dunking as “just another asset.”

“It’s just harder to block a shot when you’re up that high.”

EMOTION FUELS A FIRE

Dunks aside, Egner is Jackson’s second-leading scorer (13.2) and rebounder (7.6) behind All-Ohio forward Josh Henniger. He also is a fiery leader.

“My emotions are what make me the player I am,” Egner said. “I just go 100 percent, that’s how I am. ... At the same time, I know I have to keep my emotions in check so that I don’t hurt my team.”

It’s fine line to walk between being fiery but not disrespectful. He’s stepped over it before and his parents have talked to him about it. He learned on his own, too, when a technical foul caused him to miss some of a summer tournament game.

“It is something we talk about,” his dad said. “Where’s that edge? You leave the officials alone and use the emotion to get to the zone. I’ve told him there’s a zone you get to and when you find it, you’ll know it. The basket looks bigger and you see things before they happen. Take that emotion and funnel it that way.”

For all that fire on the floor, Gary said his son is quite different away from it.

“He’s a 3.6 student and he tries to do things the right way,” dad said. “He teaches Sunday school at our church. He probably doesn’t like anyone to know this, but he likes to read; the classics, everything. It’s a passion of his that we encouraged him in just as well as basketball.”

[GoZips]

Love the picture of the dunk in the article. Did any Zip come even remotely close to such a dunk

this year. No way.

Egner is headed to the wrong school.

Dambrot is going to stiffle him just as he has Humpty and Nicola.

Wake up, Keith.

[Dave in Green]

Great kid with good grades from a good family.

Now about that vertical leap of 37 inches. I'd sure like to believe that was measured the same way that NBA players are measured. I haven't found an NBA player with exactly a 37-inch leap. But two I found listed at 38 inches are Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce -- good company, to be sure.

[GoZips88]

Great kid with good grades from a good family.

Now about that vertical leap of 37 inches. I'd sure like to believe that was measured the same way that NBA players are measured. I haven't found an NBA player with exactly a 37-inch leap. But two I found listed at 38 inches are Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce -- good company, to be sure.

He can definitely get up there for rebounds and dunks. Seems to have good hands too. He is going to become a fan favorite very quickly. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he's the reason GoZips ends up deciding to keep his season tickets .

[meatwad]

Egner is headed to the wrong school.

Dambrot is going to stiffle him just as he has Humpty and Nicola.

I think Humpy and Nicola did a good enough job stifling themselves. Dambrot had nothing to do with Nic travelling 2x per game toward the end of the year and Humpy taking stupid technical fouls.

[UAZip0510]

Love the picture of the dunk in the article. Did any Zip come even remotely close to such a dunk

this year. No way.

Egner is headed to the wrong school.

Dambrot is going to stiffle him just as he has Humpty and Nicola.

Wake up, Keith.

Blah blah blah blah blah...

[Dave in Green]

I think that GoZips makes a legitimate point. I'm still not convinced what made Jimmy Conyers a bench rider for 3 years and all-MAC first team and MAC defensive player of the year in his final season. How much of that was JC and how much KD?

Everyone is free to make their best guess on this. But who really knows for sure?

[Blue & Gold]

I think GoZips makes a very legitimate and pertinent point.

And I'm absolutely NOT a KD hater. I love KD. I think KD's done a terrific job building the program. When I was in college I had an internship w/ Prudential Securities and did a fair share of work for KD. And talked some basketball. He told me the whole Central Michigan story, and was misty-eyed while he told it. I'm a BIG KD fan.

But he's really got to stop keeping his players on such short leashes. It's a killer for an athlete's psyche, and, as any athlete knows, having self confidence is a HUGE part of success. I've said before that I couldn't play for KD. He'd have my confidence completely shattered. I always responded best to a teaching/encouraging coach. I wanted to do well and win just as much as any coach did. I didn't need a coach screaming at me if/when I screwed up. I just needed a coach to teach me & pat me on the back and tell me to hang in there. Idk. I just do know that if I played for a coach that yanked me after every mistake, I'd be second guessing myself left & right.

Jimmy C. is a very interesting case. Jimmy didn't somehow learn how to play ball just this past season. It all likely has to do with his confidence level. And watching how KD manages the players, it's pretty plain to see how it could be painfully difficult to develop an on-court comfort level.

[zip37]

You know, KD knew about my work, never advised me on what to do, altho lots of clowns did, therefore, I let KD run his program the way he wants to.

For the most part, I'm very happy with him.

[Dave in Green]

For the most part, I think all but a few are very happy with KD. I would hope that we all wish him better. If one of us should accidentally stumble upon something that might make him even more successful, we would be remiss if we didn't speak out.

[RootforRoo44]

I think that GoZips makes a legitimate point. I'm still not convinced what made Jimmy Conyers a bench rider for 3 years and all-MAC first team and MAC defensive player of the year in his final season. How much of that was JC and how much KD?

Everyone is free to make their best guess on this. But who really knows for sure?

With the hype that surrounded Jimmy and the supposed skills he had, this season wasn't the surprising thing, it was the past 3 in which he hardly played.

I have to think Dambrot is very stern when it comes to who fits into his system, obviously Jimmy wasn't what he wanted the last few years. What a waste.

[Quickzips]

I am generally not a KD basher, but I do think there are some things he can and maybe should do differently. This is one of those scenarios. It isn't necessarily that he keeps guys on too short a leash, but there are certain guys that he doesn't utilize to the best of their abilities. Trying to play Humpty off the ball and make him slowly walk the ball up the court when he is playing point isn't utilizing him to the best of his abilities. Utilizing Nik as a C more than a PF isn't using him to the best of his abilities. Trying to make McClanahan into a SF isn't utilizing him to the best of his abilities. There are other examples, but I don't have time to go into them. Sometimes you have to stop trying to force the guys you have into your system and instead adjust your system to the talents of the guys you have.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Jimmy C. is a very interesting case. Jimmy didn't somehow learn how to play ball just this past season. It all likely has to do with his confidence level. And watching how KD manages the players, it's pretty plain to see how it could be painfully difficult to develop an on-court comfort level.

Anyone notice how poor a 2009-10 Darryl Roberts had...until the final two games...when he knew he was going to get the lion's share of minutes due to Humpty's injury? All the sudden he reverted to the "Florida State" Darryl Roberts?

The Zips have struggled to find any player to embrace the 6th man role, except for maybe Steward.

People talk about Linhart's leadership and scrappy attitude being missed. I miss the fact that he'd come off the bench and bust his ass. No one filled that role this season.

BTW - What was the over-under on floor burns for the Zips this season? 5? Last year it was about 50.

[zippyfan34]

Jackson up 9 starting the fourth quarter. Hopefully they hold on so we can see Josh on TV tomorrow night. He just had back to back dunks, one of them off a pass off the backboard.

[Quickzips]

Jackson up 9 starting the fourth quarter. Hopefully they hold on so we can see Josh on TV tomorrow night. He just had back to back dunks, one of them off a pass off the backboard.

Any info on how 2011 Prospect Stevie Taylor looks?

[zippyfan34]

Jackson up 9 starting the fourth quarter. Hopefully they hold on so we can see Josh on TV tomorrow night. He just had back to back dunks, one of them off a pass off the backboard.

Any info on how 2011 Prospect Stevie Taylor looks?

Just listening as I couldn't find a webcast. Jackson won and will play tomorrow on STO at 8:30. Egner 23 points, 9-12 from the field, 11 boards, 4 blocks, 3 dunks.

Stevie Taylor had 4 points.

[zippyfan34]

Egner will be used to the celebratory chant from the Rowdies when he gets here.

http://blogs.cantonrep.com/polarbears/

[Dave in Green]

Sounds like Egner replicated his huge quarter-final game performance at the JAR. Big game performers are rare. If he does it again tomorrow night for all the marbles, expectations are going to reach Zeke-like proportions among Zips fans.

[infofan]

With less than 20 seconds left in the Division I state semifinal, the Jackson High School student section began the chant they drove two-and-a-half hours to yell.

“I believe.”

“I believe that.”

“I believe that we have won.”

Over and over.

The Jackson Polar Bears will play for their first state championship Saturday night against Cincinnati Moeller.

Jackson whipped Gahanna Lincoln 62-50 as Josh Egner a team-high 23 points, including three monster dunks. One, an attention getter, in the third quarter, rocked Value City Arena.

Tomorrow nights championship game is on sportstime Ohio. Check out the Bears and a future Zip!!

[Dave in Green]

Egner might be able to give Zeke some advice on how to put on weight:

During Thursday night’s team dinner at Eddie George’s Grill, Jackson players ate well, and a lot.

The Bears were smart about ordering. The Ohio High School Athletic Association reimburses each school $15 for meals per day. Jackson players ordered meals in the $10 range and then split deserts.

But senior 6-foot-7 post player Josh Egner ordered a one-pound piece of carrot cake. It looked like a cinder block. Egner put most of the cake away, too.

Canton Rep Link

[Dave in Green]

Awesome stuff in the preliminary stories:

Jackson leads 41-32 after three quarters

Senior forward Josh Egner has taken over the game. He has 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Egner had two tremendous two-hand dunks in the third quarter, both of which senior guard Brad DuPont assisted on.

DuPont lobbed the ball off the backboard on the first dunk during a fast break and Egner jammed it home. Egner followed that up a few possessions later with another emphatic dunk over a Lincoln defender.

Ohio.com Link

The start of the third quarter proved to be the difference in the game as Jackson jetted to a 37-24 lead with a run ending on a three-point play by Egner.

Egner electrified the crowd with a two-handed dunk that raised the lead to 41-27 with 1:32 left in the quarter.

Each time the Lions would cut into the lead, Egner answered with an exclamation point. With 1:47 left, he had yet another dunk off the fast break to make it 58-46.

Columbus Dispatch Link

[Blue & Gold]

Rob Brandenburg? VCU can have him. Give me Josh Egner!!!

Oh, and Stevie only had 5 points. He was really shut down tonight. Hmm. Give me Dylan Ennis! Lol.

[Dave in Green]

And then there are the photos. I highly recommend the following Egner personality photos:

# 5, 9, 10, 14, 16 & 17. The last one is best. Photo #17 should be blown up to LeBron billboard size and posted somewhere on the UA campus.

Canton Rep Link

Photo comments and link updated in post # 26 below.

[Quickzips]

Photo's 14,15,16 in that series is about how I would like to see the Rowdie's.

[GoZips88]

Making a difference when it matters.

Attitude.

Leader.

Can't wait.

Good luck tonight, Josh, and the rest of the Polar Bears!