Recruiting Report: Derrick Laudenbach (2016)
Update from 11/5 by Alex Conover Derrick Laudenbach of New London-Spicer would like to slow his senior year down, as his basketball workouts began right after football. It’s no problem for the multisport athlete—he’ll still perform well, and be the…
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Continue ReadingUpdate from 11/5 by Alex Conover
Derrick Laudenbach of New London-Spicer would like to slow his senior year down, as his basketball workouts began right after football. It’s no problem for the multisport athlete—he’ll still perform well, and be the centerpiece of his team—but it definitely makes it harder to get out and tour colleges.
“I went on a visit last Friday to Augsburg for my first one ever,” Derrick told NHR. “St Scholastica is the only one I've heard from in the last month other than Augsburg. I’m like 75% sure I'm going to play hoops in college, but I haven't had much time to sit down and really think about it; this is the first time I've had a break from sports since my sophomore year. We went from last year going to the state championship game in football right into basketball, then to AAU right after that!”
With 6-6 size and visible strength, Laudenbach is no doubt a football prospect. He has thought about doing both sports, one sport, or none.
“It's just hard trying to go to school and have sports already as a high schooler, and it would be even more difficult to do both in college… but it’s not ruled out yet,” he said.
“I liked Augsburg because it's a small school in a big city;I like fairly far away schools because it's nice to get out of your area to see new things! But I’m wide open right now.”
NLS, traditionally a strong program, is looking at lots of turnover and will be leaning on Derrick for leadership and to be a force in AA.
“We're going to be inexperienced at first, because we only started 2 juniors last year,” Derrick added. “We're going to be very small and filled with guards, but we shouldn't be too bad by midseason. Some of the sophomores got to sit and dress for playoffs and practice with us, so they have some ideas of what to expect.”
Update from 6/12/15 by Alex Conover
The AAU team Comets Lewis 17U pumps out NSIC big men every year, and this year is no exception, with Matt Kreklow, Ethan Novacinski and Derrick Laudenbach all headed in that same direction.
And if Laudenbach keeps doing what he thinks he does best (“bring energy off the bench, be a good transition runner and rebound”), he should do just fine.
“It's a great experience to play for the Comets, just trying to get better individually throughout the season,” the 6-foot-6 New London-Spicer product told NHR. “I love that the competition is so high, and it's everything that I expected. My teammates are very fun to play with, and they all teach me new things.”
Laudenbach’s got good recruiting buzz going into the summer, as Bemidji State, Crown College, and St. Scholastica contacted him, and he heard that Sioux Falls and UM-Crookson were interested. The perfect event for him will be the Great Plains Alliance over the 4th of July, as D2 schools typical show up in droves to St. Cloud.
He’s also got a spot on the storied NLS football squad as a tight end and defensive end, but he’s more interested in basketball. He was injured for half the season, but was able to make it back as NLS made a state tournament run.