2025-26 Winter Sports Preview: West Valley junior Nathan Zettle shifts from MVP football season into basketball mode

West Valley’s Nathan Zettle hasn’t had much time to rest. It’s a good thing young bodies bounce back quickly.

Fresh off quarterbacking an 11-game football season, a disappointing loss in a State 2A playoff game, and Greater Spokane League 2A MVP award, the junior point guard had just a weekend off before joining a basketball team trying to defend its GSL 2A and District 6 titles from last season.

“I’d say probably the weekend right after football I got to rest for a little bit. But then I had to get back into basketball shape right away,” he said.

“It’s just running back and forth the whole time,” he joked. “It’s a lot different than playing quarterback and just sitting back there and throwing a football.”

He deflected praise when asked about the football MVP.

“It was really cool, but it just speaks more about my team than me,” he said. “You know, my coaches, my O-line, my receivers, running backs, everyone making plays. All that sets it up for me and makes it possible for me to have success.”

He was almost embarrassed when it was revealed his basketball coach called him the preseason pick to be basketball MVP too.

“I just want to win,” he said. “That’s not really important to me right now, as long as we just keep winning.”

The Eagles got a tough draw in the state football playoffs, and despite a halftime lead, they lost to sixth-seeded Lynden 28-14 in a first-round matchup.

“We were in it the whole time,” Zettle said. “The score says different … but it was a super close game. I’m proud of how the football season went. We were supposed to be a rebuilding team, and we went that far in the playoffs, which was unexpected from us.”

In an age where younger and younger athletes are specializing in one sport, even at the 2A level, it’s almost out of place to see the quarterback/point guard combo.

“The success of football has been great, and it’s been years and years now that now football’s been meshing into basketball,” third-year boys basketball coach Mike Hamilton said. “I always have said that success breeds success. So when we have success in football, it usually translates. Those guys come in, they’re in a good spot headspace wise, and they come and compete right away.”

“I love it, you know,” Zettle said. “I love going straight from football and basketball. I love both sports equally. They’re super fun. I love both teams. Man, I just love these guys.”

When pressed if he had to pick just one sport, Zettle couldn’t do it.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. “I just hope I can get an offer to get my (college) paid for, for either one.”

“We’re super lucky to have him,” Hamilton said. “And when your point guard is your hardest worker and leads by example, you know, it kind of makes everything else fall into place.”

Leading will be a point of emphasis for the 6-foot-1 junior – the team graduated nine seniors off last year’s team that reached state and will be comprised this season of two seniors, three juniors, seven sophomores and a freshman.

“Last year, we were very senior-laden team. And by the end of the year, our seniors started to look to (Zettle) for leadership,” Hamilton said. “And so he kind of took that by the horns. Now, this year we’re very young, and so now guys are obviously looking up to him for advice. And the best advice is with your eyes and seeing how he does it in person every day.”

“I take pride in being a leader of this group right here,” Zettle said. “You know, it’s a really young team. I know they look to me for an energy boost, just anything. I’ve just got to set the tone, keep the pace of the game the way it is, and whether it’s scoring, passing or being the loudest on defense – I take pride in all of that.”

This year’s team doesn’t have a lot of size, but Zettle says, “everyone of us can shoot on the floor.”

“You have to guard all five of us. You can’t just leave one of us open – every one of us can knock the shot down. And I feel like as a team at West Valley, we just have an itch to win.”

That’s good, because with the way they are racking up league titles everyone is coming for them in every game.

“We’ve been preaching that to the guys right now,” Hamilton said. “We had a lot of success last year … and, you know, some guys’ mindsets are probably that people think that we’re in a reset, or something like that. So we’ve been stressing to them that we have a bullseye on our chest from what’s happened last year, from our past, with the tradition and the winning.”

“I don’t feel any pressure, really,” Zettle said. “The expectation, you know, is obviously to win the GSL. That’s like an easy expectation. In football, we always break on ‘GSL champs.’ Same thing with basketball. That’s definitely an expectation that I set for our guys, and I’d take pride in making that expectation.”

Part of that pride comes from the town’s personality.

“Millwood is definitely a pride thing here, for sure,” Zettle said. “That’s why we’ve got it on the front of our jerseys.”

“It’s more than a cool slogan for us,” Hamilton – who graduated from West Valley in 2000 – said. “It’s a blue collar town, and we’ve always had a concept of trying to be the toughest team.”

“A guy like Nate – his older brother went here, so he’s kind of lived through the system forever,” Hamilton continued. “He came to the ‘Little Dribblers’ camp, been in the stands. A couple of other guys that have been West Valley through and through, have seen that. My stepson (freshman Jayce Lagerstrom), has seen it since he was five.”

Zettle echoed his coach’s words about the team’s work ethic.

“We’ve just gotta go out compete every night,” he said. “If we can take pride on defense and be unselfish, I think we’ll definitely be a hard team to deal with in the league. I think that’s why we’ve got the big target on our chest.”

“He is just a invaluable piece of our program,” Hamilton said. “And for me to get to have him for two more years, I almost feel like I’m a GM in the NBA, because I’ve got a franchise player for the next two years.”