Antigo's Jordan Mach accepts scholarship offer from Parkside Nov. 2, 2009 By Mark Miller
WisSports.net Editor
After watching how the University of Wisconsin-Parkside men’s basketball team pushed the ball up the floor Friday during a scrimmage against UW-Stevens Point, Antigo senior Jordan Mach knew he would fit in well with the Rangers’ style of play.
The 6-foot-2 Mach gave a verbal commitment to coach Luke Reigel and the NCAA Division II Rangers following the scrimmage Friday. He selected Parkside over Carroll University and Minnesota-Duluth, among others.
“I like the style of play Parkside uses,” Mach said Saturday evening. “I like to get up and down the floor a little bit. When I watched the scrimmage, Parkside was pushing the ball and getting open shots.
“I felt I connected with coach Reigel. I also liked the campus a lot, and I like the level of competition at Parkside faces every game in the (Great Lakes Athletic) Conference.”
Mach, who is closing in on 6-3 and has grown a couple of inches since the end of the 2008-09 high school season, is expected to play both guard positions at Parkside, which finished 8-19 last season and enters 2009-10 with a very young lineup.
“Coach Reigel said he would probably play me at both guard positions,” Mach said. “The biggest thing I need to do to get ready for college is get stronger.”
A solid student who maintains a 3.5 grade-point average, Mach says he plans to study sports management at Parkside. The academic fit between Mach and Parkside was a huge factor in his decision to play for the Rangers.
“Parkside has a very good sports management program,” he said. “Being located between Milwaukee and Chicago will be good for me in terms of maybe getting a chance to intern with the Bucks or the Bulls.”
Ranked No. 30 among Wisconsin high school players in the class of 2010 by WisSports.net, Mach can score from the perimeter or off the dribble. He averaged 21 points, four steals and three assists per game as a junior while leading Antigo to a 19-4 record and the Great Northern Conference championship.
More success is anticipated for Antigo in 2009-10 as seniors Skylar Cameron (6-2) and Chris Sailer (6-9), along with sophomore Andreas Ezer (5-7), joined Mach in the Red Robins’ starting rotation a year ago.
“Making the decision now takes a load off my shoulders,” Mach said. “We have a veteran team back so, hopefully, good things will happen this season. We want to win and we worked hard all summer.”
Mach is the first recruit in Parkside’s recruiting class of 2010 and is the sixth player in the state from his class to earn a scholarship from a Division II school, joining De Pere’s Brandon Pritzl (Hillsdale), Catholic Memorial’s Derek Schell (Hillsdale), New London’s Trevor Hass (Augustana), Kaukauna’s Jake Schalow (Bemidji State) and Kimberly’s Matt Craggs (Northern Michigan).
Mach, Schalow and Hass were backcourt teamamtes on the grassroots scene last spring and summer with the highly successful Wisconsin Blizzard program.
|
|
|
