Jason Conrad isn’t a fan of the waiting game. So on Friday the
6-foot-11-inch senior basketball standout for Gilroy High School
decided to make a verbal commitment to play basketball at Portland
State next year.
Gilroy – Jason Conrad isn’t a fan of the waiting game. So on Friday the 6-foot-11-inch senior basketball standout for Gilroy High School decided to make a verbal commitment to play basketball at Portland State next year.
Weighing offers from the University of Portland, Pacific, Northern Arizona, Arkansas – Little Rock and Northern Kentucky, Conrad said PSU’s campus, coach and classes fit with his goals as a student-athlete, making it an easy decision to become a Viking.
“I wanted to stay on the West Coast,” he said. “So, this is a good fit for me.”
He also said a visit over the summer from Viking head coach Ken Bone helped seal the deal.
“Coach Bone made a home visit, and just telling me everything that they had to offer and everything they’re doing with the program – that was pretty much when I knew.”
For a player that just started hitting the hardwood five years ago and was 5’8″ entering high school, the growth in game and stature has been meteoric.
“I think he’s a player that has a lot of upside,” GHS coach Bud Ogden said. “He’s only been playing since eighth grade, for five years. He’s an all-around athlete … He’s a great kid, extremely coachable. He’s gone through a lot of (growing) pain and worked hard. He’s a very deserving kid.”
“Yeah, it hurt,” Conrad admitted when talking about his growth spurts. “This season will be the first season that I haven’t had knee problems from growing. I can jump higher now so that’s good.”
According to Conrad and Ogden, GHS assistant coach Jeremy Dirks played an instrumental role in the recruiting process, acting as liaison between the player and interested schools.
“I went out of my way to make sure Jason and Spencer (Ford), from last year, had opportunities,” Dirks said, noting that Ford will be a freshman at UC Santa Barbara this season.
“I was a big fan of Portland State from the get-go,” Dirks added. “They’ve been recruiting him for a year and a half. A lot of schools have been ‘Johnny-come-latelys’ in the last six months. (Portland State) also had the right major.”
Conrad agreed that academics played a big part in his decision. He plans on getting a degree in art, with a possible emphasis on design.
Bone, a former assistant under Lorenzo Romar at Washington, is entering his second year as coach of PSU and looks to be moving the program in the right direction, according to Dirks.
Conrad said the coach already has plans to utilize his unique skill set, which wasn’t always the case with other schools.
“(He said) that I’m going to be a versatile player, that they run plays for big men,” Conrad said. “I got a call from Seattle University saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I don’t know how you are, but you know, we’re not gonna give the ball to our big men.’ And I’m like, ‘Why are you calling then?’ ”
A big recruiting push came Conrad’s way after playing well in AAU tournaments over the summer.
“I worked at a camp in Kansas that I did really good at, I went to (Las) Vegas and L.A. twice,” Conrad said. “I went with the Mitty High School team because (UCLA-bound) Drew Gordon got hurt so I filled in for him. That helped a lot. I did really good at that.”
While it’s quite possible Conrad could have received offers from larger schools had he performed well this upcoming season, he said the risk of injury and the importance placed on being wanted were the deciding factors.
“Now I can just concentrate on school more,” he said.
