Sports
Five freshman to lead Jacks on the inside in 2013-14
Tyler Ohmann
11/26/2013
Five freshman lead the way for the Dakota College at Bottineau men’s basketball team down in the paint.
However, size isn’t necessarily their greatest asset.
“Not a lot of teams have four-men that can move like ours,” Fehringer said. “So we sacrificed a few inches, a few pounds for more athleticism, which also fits in with what we do defensively, which is to play pressure defense, rotate hard for steals and run the floor hard off turnovers.”
The big guys are asked to do a lot inside for this year’s Jacks squad. Duties for the bigs include: setting screens, rolling hard to the basket with their hands up, having to guard bigger defenders and fighting for rebounds.
“They have to have a junkyard dog mentality, which is, nobody gets in here, and nobody gets out,” Fehringer said. “I think that they’re developing that personality to where they protect our team.”
Sam Robinson
Robinson is from Chicago, Ill., and is a defensive specialist for the Jacks.
“The characteristics and traits he possesses aren’t always valued by all coaches,” Fehringer said. “But defensively, rebounding and being a true team player stood out immediately when watching him in high school.”
“I think when you have a team that has some offensive attacking skills, you need someone with some more balance to him,” Fehringer added.
Fehringer’s favorite trait of Robinson is his toughness.
“He does a great job of bringing fire every day to practice, every day to games, and if someone falls to the ground, he’s going to pick them up,” Fehringer said. “I think if you took a vote, he would be voted the toughest player on our team hands down.”
In DCB’s 10 games Robinson has averaged 21 minutes played per game and has 5.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 points per game.
Wesley Harrison
Hailing from Detroit, Mich. Harrison has started six of the Jacks’ first 10 games. Fehringer likes Harrison’s athleticism and his best skills include being a face-up four man or going in transition, but they are trying to teach him another part of his game.
“Our goal is to improve Wes’ skill set to allow him to be a better perimeter player, but we also think if we can make him play strong with his back to the basket he’s going to be very difficult to guard in a year,” Fehringer said.
In 10 games Harrison is averaging 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Harrison had one of his best games last Saturday in a 101-81 win over Trinity Bible College. In that effort Harrison had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added three boards.
Julian Short
Short was one of the biggest targets for the Jacks in recruiting this past offseason. This came because of his size and his shot blocking ability. Short set the school record at his high school in Chicago for shot blocking.
“He does some of the duties that don’t show up on stat sheets,” Fehringer said. “He plays defense on the block as well as any big man in this area, and he is a big, strong kid who loves to rebound.”
Short will be looked to for covering a lot of the bigger opponents.
“We thought he could be the man in the middle to really improve our size in the paint,” Fehringer said. “He could also deal with the opponents bigs that tend to hurt us, especially in the MonDak conference.”
Short has played in four of the Jacks’ first 10 games.
Justin Musgrave
Despite not being highly recruited Musgrave was given a chance to play with the Jacks this season, and has been a pleasant surprise for Fehringer and DCB.
“He is just been an absolute blessing to our four man spot,” Fehringer said. “He becomes a major mismatch for the other teams’ four and five men, because he is hard to guard off the bounce.”
He has good size and athleticism for a four and has the ability to play both inside and out.
Musgrave has worked his way into the Jacks’ rotation off the bench and has played in all 10 games.
He has averaged 4.8 points and a pair of rebounds per game.
Gilberto Shojgreen
Perhaps the most talented big man for the Jacks though is the 6-foot, 7-inch Shojgreen from Miami, Fla.
“One of the most naturally gifted players that I’ve had the ability to coach,” Fehringer said. “He makes it difficult to get easy baskets on us, and he also provides some of those highlight reel dunks that everybody likes to come and watch.”
With a 6-foot, 10-inch wingspan Shojgreen has been a force inside on both sides of the court for the Jacks this season. He has started in five of the Jack’s 10 games and is averaging 7.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He is shooting a sizzling 63.6 percent from the field.
However, the biggest positive for Shojgreen is his future.
“If Gilberto can combine his natural athletic ability with some fundamental post play, he has a chance to play at a very high level down the road,” Fehringer said. “He’s also going to need to hit that weight room, he’s a pretty skinny dude.”
“He has a long ways to go, which is the best thing to say about him, because he has no clue where his ceiling is at, and neither do we,” Fehringer added.
Since it is hard to get 6-foot, 8-inch to 6-foot, 10-inch big men that could score, what DCB tried to do instead was get athletic four-men who could run the floor faster, and have the ability to guard.
And Fehringer believes it is working, and with a 9-1 record it’s hard to argue.
“This group is really beginning to fit the mold where we can see being successful in the MonDak, and also playing teams outside the North Dakota area,” Fehringer said. “We feel really good about who we brought in, especially because they are all freshman.”
“With two years together, they are going to be a tight-knit unit that goes to battle for each other, but also knows their roles on the team,” Fehringer added.