Coach D and Josh Egner on TV

[ZachTheZip]

BigTime TV Sports, to be exact.

The show should air on May 20th, but only south of Akron.

[Dave in Green]

Happened to have a nice steakburger, fries, and a tall cold one at the Game Day Grille in Jackson tonight. Coincidentally, there was a TV interview with KD.

Interestingly, Josh Egner was not a part of the TV interview after they figured out it would be an NCAA violation for him to appear together on a TV show with a college coach before he graduated high school. So they had an informal interview with Egner and his Jackson HS point guard teammate, Brad DuPont, for the Jackson fans in attendance after the official show was over and KD had left the stage.

There were no stunning announcements from KD. They asked him about each of the incoming players, and he naturally had good things to say about each. He said he liked Dakotah Euton's fundamentals, thought that Abreu has the tools to be as good or better a pure point guard than Dru Joyce, thought that Egner might be the most athletic Zips player since Romeo Travis, and thought that Diggs was a unique opportunity to get an experienced player (transfer) at the 2-3 position where the Zips have a need without having to sit out a year.

Egner is an impressive young man. He handled his informal interview with confidence and maturity. He said he knew that he was going to have to work hard on his strength to make the jump from HS ball to college, and that he was prepared to do whatever KD asked him to do. He gave advice to a group of 7th grade players in attendance that when he was younger, his coach told him he was never going to be good enough to play varsity ball. He told the 7th graders that if they really wanted it, and if they really worked hard at it, they could do it.

Again, no big news, but at least a small taste of Zips basketball talk between seasons.

[GoZips]

A really nice report, Dave. Thanks.

[tpsjugglerdude]

Did he mention that Diggs is already on campus taking classes? He was at Memorial tonight working out. He said its a lot colder here then he is used to. lol

[Dave in Green]

I don't recall any mention of Diggs already being on campus. But it's good to know that he is wasting no time settling into his new home. Hope he appreciates the tradeoff of a little cooler weather for no hurricanes.

[dboze]

I don't recall any mention of Diggs already being on campus. But it's good to know that he is wasting no time settling into his new home. Hope he appreciates the tradeoff of a little cooler weather for no hurricanes.

Yes, Quincy is on campus and rooming with Zeke for the Summer.

[Dr Z]

A really nice report, Dave. Thanks.

+1

[Dave in Green]

A really nice report, Dave. Thanks.

+1

Bonus points for no stats mentioned, right?

[johnnyzip84]

A really nice report, Dave. Thanks.

+1

Bonus points for no stats mentioned, right?

+1-sigma!!!

[Hilltopper]

A really nice report, Dave. Thanks.

+1

Bonus points for no stats mentioned, right?

Joe Dunn asked KD what he thought of Egner's mohawk haircut. He was 100% against it.

[Quickzips]

My big question right now is what position we will see Egner play. It sounds like he has the size to play some PF and the athleticism to play some SF as well. Is he more of a Romeo Travis type where we can play him as a bit of a stretch 4 or is he more of a Nate Linhart where his length and defensive abilities can make him a lockdown SF? Particularly with the recent voids opening up at SG I really wonder if we won't see more of Diggs at SG than initially thought allowing some more playing time for Josh at SF. Just spinning some ideas around here. Certainly a lot can happen between now and the open of the season.

[Hilltopper]

My big question right now is what position we will see Egner play. It sounds like he has the size to play some PF and the athleticism to play some SF as well. Is he more of a Romeo Travis type where we can play him as a bit of a stretch 4 or is he more of a Nate Linhart where his length and defensive abilities can make him a lockdown SF? Particularly with the recent voids opening up at SG I really wonder if we won't see more of Diggs at SG than initially thought allowing some more playing time for Josh at SF. Just spinning some ideas around here. Certainly a lot can happen between now and the open of the season.

Based on the 3 games I attended it looked like Josh was the defensive catalyst for his team. He patrolled the lane looking for ways to shut down the passing game of the other team and blocking any shot he could get his hands on. After a few minutes of the Toledo St Johns game, it appeared the SJ players were looking over their shoulder every time they went into the lane, looking for Josh to reject their shot. He still needs to put in some work in the weight room, but he should really benefit from playing on the floor with Zeke.

[Dr Z]

He still needs to put in some work in the weight room, but he should really benefit from playing on the floor with Zeke.

I like the fact that DIG posted that "he knew that he was going to have to work hard on his strength to make the jump from HS ball to college" Sounds like he wants to work hard at his game. IMO, we need more of that on our team. If he is what you say he is defensively, Zeke will benefit from him as well.

[Dave in Green]

After watching him play several times, my best guess is that Egner has the potential to be more of a flex player who could cover almost any opposing player, regardless of position. On defense, he's closer to Linhart than any other recent Zips player I can think of. He's quick enough to cover all but the quickest backcourt players, and he has enough leaps to cover all but the biggest, tallest frontcourt players.

This flexibility carries over to offense. He specializes in playing the wing, but in the games I saw he easily moved into the post when Henniger was on the bench. His outside shot may require a little polishing, but even in the highest level HS games he had no problem scoring inside. He slams with as much authority as the most athletic players I've seen slam over the Zips.

In a 2-point victory over Toledo St. John's in the state quarterfinals, I had a chance at the JAR to see Egner at his very best in all aspects of the game. He outscored Henniger, and rebounded, blocked, and stole the ball almost at will. A real bonus is his ability to handle the ball. When the quicker Toledo St. John's guards started picking the pockets of Jackson's guards, Egner called for the ball and brought it upcourt by himself a couple of times. When they couldn't stop him, they gave up on the press. It was a LeBron-style take-over-the-game performance, and with anything less, Jackson goes home and doesn't move on to win the state title.

If he can further hone all of these skills and carry them to the next level, I don't see Egner playing a single position. I think he will play wherever the Zips need the most help depending on the style and matchups of whatever team they're playing. This ability to play multiple roles gives Egner the potential to earn lots of PT.

[RootforRoo44]

A really nice report, Dave. Thanks.

+1

Bonus points for no stats mentioned, right?

Joe Dunn asked KD what he thought of Egner's mohawk haircut. He was 100% against it.

of course, being an individual and playing with heart are not things that KD preaches.