New Mexico State player never played college high school basketball

Kent Olewiler stated he has at all times had bother taking no for a solution.

Particularly in relation to basketball.

Being faraway from a crew? Go discover it once more. Do not you’ve the chance you need? Maintain in search of it.

It would not matter what number of setbacks you face or the locations it’s important to transfer to.

“I preserve my objectives,” he stated. “Most children get discouraged after they face a lot adversity. I took failure and let it lead me to my objectives. I took issues as a chance.”

A 2020 graduate of York Excessive (Pennsylvania), Olewiler not too long ago made the New Mexico state males’s basketball roster as a most popular companion and has been coaching with the crew all summer season. The Aggies are one of the vital profitable Division I mid-major applications within the nation with eight NCAA match appearances and a median document of 25-8 since 2012.

Olewiler did not even play school basketball.. He was a JV participant for 3 years at Central York and didn’t play his senior 12 months at York Excessive as a result of his switch was not accredited.

Going from no varsity expertise to the Division I degree is a uncommon if not fully remarkable scenario.

Nonetheless, those that educated Olewiler aren’t stunned that he discovered his present alternative. Standing near 6-foot-4, he has the mixture of peak, size and taking pictures skill that schools search for in taking pictures guards.

“I am not stunned,” former Central York coach Kevin Schieler stated. “He has a ardour for the sport and at all times wished to work on the craft of it. Faculty coaches see that. Size is a giant factor for coaches and after they see 6-foot-3 with a 6-foot-5 wingspan, they get excited. .”

“I believed Kent was a scholarship child (from a smaller college),” York Excessive coach Clovis Gallon stated. “The state of New Mexico is a pleasant shock, however I prefer to imagine that if all of our youngsters work onerous sufficient, they’ll have a chance like that.

“Kent was at all times very assured in his talent set. I might say an above-average degree of confidence.”

That confidence and willpower, together with maybe some stubbornness, have helped Olewiler get to the place he’s at this time. After enjoying basketball within the AAU throughout highschool, he was recruited by a number of NCAA Division III faculties and performed one season at Japanese College outdoors of Philadelphia. He averaged 4.7 factors in 12 minutes per recreation as a freshman, however wished to take it up a notch and transferred to Division II Newman in Wichita, Kansas.

When a concussion landed him in a medical redshirt, he continued to speak with school coaches on social media till a reference to New Mexico State coach Greg Heiar led to a walk-in supply.

Why was he so decided to proceed climbing the college ladder as a substitute of settling down at a smaller college?

“Why not?” Olewiler responded. “That was my entire mindset on this. I do know I can do that, it simply relies upon if I need to work.”

Olewiler’s journey has included quite a lot of onerous work and ingenuity. Nevertheless it additionally requires enhancing the issues that held him again in highschool as he continues to hone his strengths.

You have realized to take the positives out of irritating conditions whereas realizing that you just nonetheless have so much to study.

“I am right here, proper?” he stated of his path to the Division I degree. “I would not be on this place if it wasn’t for the trail I had in highschool. It exhibits I am prepared to develop.”

A ‘flashy’ boy

Rising up, Olewiler was extra of a baseball participant and did not begin enjoying organized basketball till the seventh grade.

He at all times believed that the pure expertise he confirmed in impromptu video games would carry him by means of any scenario.

Now you recognize there’s extra to it than that.

“There’s a distinction between park basketball and arranged basketball,” he stated. “My highschool days have been after I could not discover a swap between the 2.

“He was form of a flashy child that the coaches did not like.”

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His highschool coaches would not put it that manner, however they know the place he is coming from.

Olewiler grew up within the suburban York college district, however his household moved to Central York earlier than his freshman 12 months. He made the JV basketball crew his freshman 12 months, however was reduce his sophomore 12 months. He made the crew as a junior however remained in JV.

Beneath Schieler, the Panthers have been constantly among the finest applications within the York-Adams Interscholastic Athletic Affiliation and well-known for his or her depth, protection, and balanced offense. His 2020 crew went 24-5 and received the league title, however no participant averaged greater than 10.5 factors per recreation.

That system did not match Olewiler’s type of play. He appreciated to have the ball in his arms and search for his shot.

He stated he thought he may need had a shot on the school degree, however acknowledged he wanted to enhance his protection and his willingness to embrace a team-first method.

“That was a part of the deal at Central,” Olewiler stated. “Different children have been within the system for therefore a few years, and I used to be the brand new child who did not perceive how Central basketball labored. I used to be form of flashy, and it took me some time to understand that is not what the coaches need.” “. You must play a job. I’ve realized it, however after I was youthful I did not perceive it.”

“We had a protection that wasn’t simple to deal with and he struggled with that,” Schieler added. “He was an excellent shooter, however he wanted to regulate on the defensive finish. In one other program with a special system, he would have performed an even bigger function.”

Earlier than his senior season, Olewiler thought-about transferring to a highschool however determined to stay at Central. Earlier than the season, Olewiler stated it was clear he wasn’t in line to get a lot enjoying time for the Panthers. He determined to switch to York Excessive “simply earlier than” the beginning of the basketball season.

Central York didn’t signal the paperwork to make Olewiler eligible to play, citing that it was completed for athletic causes and never as a reliable transfer. Olewiler stated his father had moved to the York Metropolis Faculty District a number of months earlier, however acknowledged transferring as a result of it was “a chance to go play as a result of he knew he wasn’t going to play Central.”

Gallon and Schieler declined to touch upon the scenario. Even when Olewiler had been accredited to play, he wouldn’t have been eligible to play within the postseason because of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Affiliation’s switch rule.

Nonetheless, Olewiler practiced and attended video games with York Excessive all through the season. Gallon referred to as him a “breath of contemporary air within the locker room” and stated he scored 17 factors in a single quarter throughout a preseason recreation. The Bearcats completed the season 20-8 and made the state playoffs.

“We have been a extremely good crew, and he would have been one of many high three scorers for us,” Gallon stated. “He needed to work on his offensive consciousness and compete on the defensive finish. However he may rating the basketball.”

Olewiler stated he has no animosity towards Central York and stated he has grown as an individual since his time there.

“I am not pointing fingers. I am grateful for what occurred,” he stated. “Now I perceive the sport so much in a different way and I’ve a special perspective. It is a crew sport, and the one factor that issues is getting that win.”

Adapt to a ‘totally different’ degree

Olewiler speaks with real confidence about himself and his skills on the basketball court docket. He stated that he realized from his dad and mom at a younger age that he may “do no matter he wished if he put his thoughts to it.”

However when requested about practising with a Division I crew this summer season, he was fast to come back clear.

“Oh is totally differenthe stated. “Undoubtedly the scale but additionally the velocity of every part. Everyone seems to be so good it’s kind of ridiculous. There is not any room to go incorrect or something.”

Olewiler first contacted Heiar two years in the past when he was an assistant at East Tennessee State. Their communication intensified final 12 months when Heiar coached at Northwest Florida State Faculty, the highest junior school program within the nation.

Heiar was named New Mexico State head coach in March and gave Olewiler a most popular spot in Could.

“I watched a video and did some background on him and he appeared like an amazing younger man,” Heiar stated. “He could make pictures, he is acquired good athleticism and he is a tough employee. He is very inquisitive with a ardour for basketball and appears to have a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. These are all constructive issues that may make practices higher and others round him higher.” “.

It isn’t simple for non-scholarship gamers to make the rotation, and Olewiler is aware of he’ll have a selected function to play for the Aggies. He joked that taking pictures 3-pointers is “all he is allowed to do.”

Together with one thing else…

“My skill to play protection is what’s going to get me on the ground,” Olewiler stated. “Contemporary out of highschool, I did not know what protection was, and that stopped me. That and understanding the psychological facet of the sport are among the issues which have grown so much.”

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