Tournament time
Calvin Jurich is in St. Louis for the biggest basketball game of his young life, but his family is otherwise engaged.
The Whitworth College sophomore and University High School graduate is with the Pirates awaiting its first-round game with DePauw in the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament Friday at 4 p.m., local time The Pirates are ranked 16th in the nation entering the tournament. DePauw is ranked No. 22.
“My family is all heading over to Tacoma,” Jurich laughed. “My sister (junior Kasey) plays for U-Hi and they’re all going to be over for the state Class 4A tournament. But if we keep winning I’m sure my dad will be jumping on a plane.”
Whitworth will play at one of the gems of Division III college basketball: Washington University in St. Louis. The host Bears will take on Fontbonne University in the nightcap, with the winners meeting Saturday at 5 p.m. for the right to advance to the NCAA sectionals.
“This is the first really successful team that I’ve ever been on, and that’s not to say that U-Hi wasn’t successful because we really were – we got to Regionals and we played at Districts,” Jurich said. “Making it to a national tournament is a step above the rest.”
Jurich has been an effective player off the bench for the Pirates. The 6-foot-5 post averaged almost 2.5 rebounds and just under 4 points per game, backing up senior All-Northwest Conference post Kevin Hasenfus.
Whitworth was co-champion of the NWC and earned an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament by knocking off Lewis andClark College Saturday at Whitworth, 66-62.
That victory took the Bucs a step farther than they went a year ago. Last year, Whitworth lost the conference tournament’s championship game and suffered through a miserable Sunday, waiting for Monday morning and the release of the NCAA tournament bracket.
Whitworth wasn’t on it.
“There was a small chance we’d get in,” Jurich said. “We had a decent regional record and that’s what really gets you into the tournament. When we went down to Southern California to play Occidental, we lost a tough one. We were up by five with a minute to go and ended up losing by one. Then we lost our next game to Pomona-Pitzer. One fewer turnover or one more basket and we would have pulled those games out, and getting into the tournament would have been a different story.
“Knowing how close we got last year gave us an extra push this year. It also gave us experience and taught us that we had to get it done, especially in tight games. Nothing is going to be handed to us in games like that.”
Jurich said he didn’t follow Whitworth basketball while he was at University, but when it came time to look at schools, the ones most interested in him were from NCAA Division III or NAIA schools. At that point, he said, playing close to home became an attractive option.
“I knew Weck (assistant head coach Rodney Wecker) from going to basketball camps at Whitworth and from other things, but that was about it,” he said. “I was really impressed with coach (Jim) Hayford when he came to visit me. I hadn’t met him before then, but I enjoyed talking to him. He has a reputation for working with my position. He coached (2004 All-American and Central Valley graduate) Brian Depew for a year and he likes working with big guys.”
The clincher, he said, was Whitworth’s track record for winning games.
“That’s the reason I ended up choosing Whitworth,” he said. “I knew they had winning tradition in basketball. I got some great experience last year watching Lance Pecht end up being an MVP, and George Tucker. I’ve been fortunate to play with this year’s seniors now for two years and I’ve learned a lot from them. We’ve gotten real close together.
Jurich has worked hard in the weight room to add both bulk to his body and quickness to his game.
“I’m small for my position,” he said. “I knew I had to be stronger if I was going to play inside against more physical players.
“The biggest difference between the college game and the high school game is the speed and how physical the game is. You have to work on both if you’re going to compete.”
Jurich said he wants to add even more quickness to his game for next year, hoping to give his game more of an outside threat.
Freshman Nate Montgomery, a 6-6 post from Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Wash., has made great strides and could free Jurich up to play more forward.
“Nate may just be the best athlete we have on the whole team,” he said. “I’d like to play more on the outside, where I’m not undersized and can actually use my size and strength to an advantage.”
Jurich said he has no hard feelings about his family’s priorities – after all, Kasey and the Titans clinched a tournament berth first. If he weren’t otherwise engaged, he’d be there rooting his sister on.
“I’ve enjoyed watching her games,” he said. “She’s lucky. She’s playing with the best high school player in the country right now. It’s cool when you have a national coach like Pat Summit coming to watch your games.”
Jurich said he would tell high school athletes today one thing:
“Definitely: playing harder,” he said. “I go back and watch my sister’s games and I catch the boys games. It’s just a totally different game. (College) is so much faster and so much more physical. The most important thing you can learn is to play hard and play to win.”