The Next Level: Former Panthers who still compete in college

     This week the Express begins a new series about former Monticello High School athletes who have gone on to compete in college.

     The first installment features Q-and-A segments with three men’s basketball players: Jarrett Easton of the University of Dubuque, Sawyer Herman of Wartburg College, and Spencer Williams of Coe College.

     Wartburg had the biggest season, going 21-10 and reaching the NCAA Division III Tournament Sweet Sixteen before falling to Augustana College of Illinois March 10.

     Coe and Dubuque had identical records of 10-15.

     A look at this week’s featured athletes:

Jarrett Easton

Men’s basketball,

University of Dubuque

6-3, 195 sophomore guard

     2016-17 stats: 22 games played, 8.2 minutes per game, 0.8 points per game, 2.0 rebounds per game, eight assists, three steals.

     Q: What made you decide to continue your athletic career in college?           

     A: My desire to still compete at a high level was the main reason for continuing my athletic career! I couldn’t imagine not being involved in a sport or being on a team and didn’t want to give that up.

     Q: How do you feel about the way your season, and the team’s season, have gone? What have been the highlights for you?

     A: This season didn’t go as well as we would have liked, between being very young and inexperienced to having some tough injuries throughout the year we never put a team on the floor that played together consistently.  Some highlights we had were beating Loras at home and also beating Buena vista and Nebraska Wesleyan at home this year.

     Q: What has been your role with the team, and how much playing time did you get this season?

     A: This year I averaged 8.2 minutes a game off the bench, I was a role player who focused hard on defense and rebounding for us.

     Q: How does competing at the college level compare with high school?

     A: Competing at the collegiate level is a huge time commitment, everyone is there for the same purpose because they want to play and win. Where In high school there is a social aspect to sports, in college it feels more like a job or profession. People are all equally talented and hard work usually prevails.

     Q: You were playing both football and basketball at UD; how difficult is it to play two sports while in college?

     A: I played football my freshman year and basketball this year so never in the same season. After football season I sat down and talked to Rob the basketball coach and asked how difficult would it be to attempt to play both and he said that he’s only had one guy do it. You have to get done with football then come learn new basketball plays without practice all at the same time. That factored into my decision into only playing basketball this season.

     Q: What goals do you have for the rest of your collegiate career?

     A: I want to win a conference championship, earn All-IIAC honors and play in the national tournament.

     Q: What advice would you give to high school athletes hoping to play in college?

     A: Some advice I would give is never take any time you have to get better and waste it. Although you might be the best right now there’s a whole world of people out there just like you at other schools that you’ll play in college. Never be satisfied, always try to get better whenever you can!

Sawyer Herman

Men’s basketball,

Wartburg College

6-2, 180 junior guard

     2016-17 stats: 24 games played, 12.7 minutes per game, 7.7 points per game, 32-for-74 from three-point range (43.2 percent), 2.0 rebounds per game, 20 assists, 13 steals seven blocks.

     Q: What made you decide to continue your athletic career in college?

     A: Through my life I’ve made a lot of memories and friends through sports and I wanted to continue that in college.

     Q: How do you feel about the way your season, and your team’s season, have gone? How exciting has it been to be part of a Sweet Sixteen team?

     A: It’s been filled with ups and downs. We started hot (maybe 9-0) and dropped off during the conference season. We barely made it to the conference tourney as the 6th seed out of 6 teams. Since the start of the conference tourney we’ve been a different team and I think that confidence has helped us a lot in the NCCA tourney. Overall it’s been a pretty surreal feeling. Especially winning by 59 combined points against two top 10 teams. It’s been a really fun ride.

     Q: What has been your role with the team, and how much playing time have you been getting this season?

     A: I’ve been a “glue guy” of sorts. I come off the bench and play 12-20 minutes a game. My role is basically to come in and provide a spark on offense or defense.

     Q: How does competing at the college level compare with high school.

     A: The competition is always good. There are no (easy) teams at the collegiate level. You have to come to every game and every practice ready to go if you want to succeed. The best part about college basketball compared to high school is the shot clock – teams can’t dribble out the clock with 5 minutes left!

     Q: What goals do you have for the rest of your collegiate career?

     A: Next year I’ll be graduating with a B.A. in Business Administration with concentrations in management and marketing. With three seniors on the team this year I’m hoping to nail down a starting spot next year.

     Q: What advice would you give to high school athletes hoping to play in college?

     A: Make sure you’re passionate about the sport you want to play. It makes everything easy if you love doing what you do.

Spencer Williams

Men’s basketball,

Coe College

6-6, 220 junior forward

     2016-17 stats: 22 games played, 10.1 minutes per game, 3.4 points per game, 1.9 rebounds per game, 14 blocks, seven assists, five steals.

     Q: What made you decide to continue your athletic career in college?

     A: I originally wanted to continue to play baseball because I enjoyed the game and its a great way to meet friends and stay in shape throughout college.

     Q: How do you feel about the way your season, and your team’s season went? What have been the highlights for you?

     A: My season was not as good as I wanted it to be, but I’m not disappointed necessarily. I’m looking ahead to next season and getting better prepared for it. Our team also had a rather disappointing season. We were looking pretty good starting off the season, but we got into a bit of a slump and couldn’t get out of it in time to make the tournament. The highlights for me have really just been the group of guys that I’ve met and their families and the support they all give me. Other than that, Beating Buena Vista at the buzzer and keeping Dubuque out of the tournament were the biggest highlights this season.

     Q: I don’t believe you played varsity basketball throughout high school; what got you back into the game?

     A: I didn’t play as a junior but I played my senior year and got some minutes. After my first college baseball season I decided to call it quits and wasn’t planning on continuing my athletic career. However, one day at Coe I was just playing some pickup basketball with my roommate, who already played basketball, and another group of guys. I didn’t know the basketball coach at the time, but he had apparently watched the pickup games for a little bit. The next day I got an email from him saying that he saw me play and wanted me to try out for the team. So that’s how I got to this point.

     Q: What has been your role with the team, and how much varsity time did you get this season?

     A: This year I was mostly just a good presence to have in the post. I didn’t score a lot of points so I was a bit more of a role player by setting screens and breaking things up a bit. This year was kind of hit and miss with playing time. For the most part I split minutes evenly with our other post, but there were times where I wouldn’t go in at all or I might just get a couple minutes.

     Q: How does competing at the college level compare with high school?

     A: The college level, even in Division 3, is a lot tougher than high school simply because you are playing against the athletes that were good enough to advance their athletic careers. College sort of weeds out the guys that weren’t so athletic in high school. The guards are faster and the big men are bigger. And of course moving up through Divisions filters the athletes even more.

     Q: What goals do you have for the rest of your collegiate career?

     A: I have one more year left so I’m hoping to push myself in the gym as well as the weight room so that I can produce more on the court next season. At the end of the day its just a game and I love all the friends I’ve made, but it would be great to end the last season strong. As a side note I also want to shoot and make a 3-pointer in a game because I haven’t done that.

     Q: What advice would you give to high school athletes hoping to play in college?

     A: First off, I would say to choose a college based off of where you want to go academically because you may not always have sports. If your athletic career gets cut short you will want to still be happy with where you’re going to college. Unless you’re getting a full ride somewhere, then you should go there because why not its free. I would also say to keep working on your game as much as you can and get into the weight room because it will help you get an edge over the other athletes competing for your spot.