Zeke Gueths has proved he can be a defense’s worst nightmare.
At 6-foot-6, the Shawano Community High School junior center has the skill set and footwork to be a presence on the inside. He is also a solid enough shooter to step outside and drain a 3-pointer.
It’s that versatility that has made Gueths an extremely valuable player.
“He’s always been versatile, but this year he’s really shown us that he can do it,” said senior point guard Zack Sousek, who is in his third season playing with Gueths. “He could always hit a few shots, but now he’s hitting a high percentage of them.”
Gueths knows how important his all-around game is when he’s on the court.
“A guy who’s more versatile is definitely harder to guard,” Gueths said. “I can back someone down in the post and shoot from outside. It opens up the court for everyone else.”
Gueths scored a career-high 26 points against Sturgeon Bay on Jan. 3. He showed his full repertoire by draining four 3-pointers, scoring in the paint and hitting some outside 2-point field goals.
“Zeke’s huge,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “He’s our glue guy down low, because every time teams try to stop him, that opens up offense for everybody else. Plus he’s a big load defensively, gets a lot of rebounds. He’s just absolutely huge for our team.”
At 260 pounds, Gueths has the psyche of a tackle, which is the position he plays on the Shawano football team. However, he has a nice touch on his inside shots and runs the court well. A lot of high school athletes don’t work on a low-post game.
“I think it’s pretty rare, especially in this day and age with basketball, because there’s not a true back-to-the-basket player anymore, and he possesses that,” Kellett said.
Gueths said he doesn’t pattern his game after any current college or NBA players, but he did look up to a certain center when he was younger.
“As a kid, I idolized Shaq, but I think I’m a little bit better shooter than he was,” Gueths joked.
A short distance away, Kellett tried to hold back from laughing.
Gueths started his first two seasons but has really come into his own as a junior. During his freshman and sophomore campaigns, he averaged 6.5 points per game. This season, he has nearly doubled his output, pouring in a team-high 12.7 points and six rebounds each contest. For his career, Gueths has 459 points and more than 250 rebounds.
“He’s a lot more aggressive this year, and I’ve given him just a bigger green light from the outside,” Kellett said. “I think the moment when that happened his confidence grew, and he’s been a better play ever since. That kind of coincided with Sajen Knueppel getting hurt and Zeke had to take on a bigger role, and he was capable of doing that.”
Sousek has also seen his teammate’s game grow steadily this season.
“He’s a lot more physical and he’s not afraid of anybody,” Sousek said. “When he wants to score, he just backs them down, puts it up and it goes in.”
Gueths has spent a lot of time working on his shot in the past year. A gym rat, Gueths has played AAU ball since third grade. With the Wisconsin Playground Warriors, Gueths has had the opportunity to play in tournaments nationwide against some of the best players in the country.
Gueths credits his coaches at Shawano and in AAU for helping him increase his athleticism and become a more polished all-around player.
“He’s just got to keep growing and keep learning from all his experiences,” Kellett said. “He plays a lot of basketball with AAU and summer stuff with Shawano, so he’s been through the ringer and he’s grown from that. He’s a phenomenal kid off the court more than he is on the court. All the good things that happen is because he puts a lot of time into it.”
Gueths is starting to get some college looks at the Division II level. The University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota, Minot State in North Dakota and Northern State, also in South Dakota, have shown interest in the big man. He’d love to play D-II ball, but with a year-plus left in his high school career, he wants to get good enough to play Division I.
“I’ve always dreamed big,” Gueths said. “There’s no limits. If you work hard, who knows what can happen.”
Gueths is certainly working hard every day.
Categories
