Prospect Into: Trae Steckler (2018)
Six-foot-3 Mandan forward Trae Steckler gave the Braves 19.4 points and 8.1 rebounds a game earning him a spot on the All WDA team as a sophomore. Steckler next joined North Dakota Phenom and through five events the team is…
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Continue ReadingSix-foot-3 Mandan forward Trae Steckler gave the Braves 19.4 points and 8.1 rebounds a game earning him a spot on the All WDA team as a sophomore.
Steckler next joined North Dakota Phenom and through five events the team is 13-9. Overall the experience has been good for Steckler.
“Spring AAU has gone pretty good for me,” Trae said. “I hope my game continues in the last few tournaments! I think playing with some of the best players in North Dakota has been a great experience for me.
“Everyone you play with knows the game so you really don’t need to teach your teammates. Everyone possesses their own skills which I like also. AAU shows who works in the offseason and shows who is improving.
“I am fortunate this season to have a coach who has coached at the college level and really knows the game. I believe that gave are program a big boost because he is always willing to help anyone weather they are on the younger teams or older teams.”
Trae shot 58 percent from the field and 69 percent at the foul line and a lot of his damage was done at the rim. Steckler is now working to be better away from the cup and he wants to improve defensively.
“The parts of my game I would like to work on are taking more pride on defense, becoming a better ball handler, and being able to be consist with shooting off the dribble,” Steckler told PHD. “I would like to see the most improvement on the defensive side as I feel that is where games are won.
“Don’t get me wrong but you also need to have talented players but if they can’t play defense then they can be exposed. Becoming a better ball handler and being consistent on shooting off the dribble have been my goal since the summer started and I feel I have improved day by day!”
Steckler helped Mandan to a 9-12 record so the next step is getting over .500. With Trae and his double figure scoring brother Cameron Steckler returning they should have the opportunity to do that as they will be building off a nice season.
“Some of my top high school season moments were beating a rivalry school (Bismarck) in the WDA quarterfinals to advance to the semi-finals,” Steckler said. “Helping improve my team to a better record this season then last season.
“Once we won a few games we had that mentality that no one can beat us and we just kept that mentality and we won a few more games this year.”
Most in North Dakota will remember when Trae scored 37 points and had 14 rebounds in a WDA game against Jamestown. In another big game Steckler scored 30 points and had 11 rebounds in an overtime win against Williston.
“I felt I was able to accomplish these things because of the help of my teammates. Another great moment of my season was the fact that I got to play with my brother. I feel by having a brother on your team helps your game because you know what he can do and he knows what you can do so we are both a threat on the floor!”
Now the Stecklers are looking for next winter although they do lose five seniors from their nine man rotation. That said, experienced seniors-to-be Jaden Andresen and Landon Kleingartner are back with the Stecklers so the Braves should be better.
“Things for next season are looking pretty good,” Trae said. “We are seeing more and more people attend open gyms. Things that we need to work on for this season is discipline, leadership, and everyone needs to play a roll on the team!
“We need to be more disciplined in practice and take every practice seriously as you only get so many practices. Leadership can always improve on a team and I think last year’s seniors took a big step for us and we just need to continue to keep that and build on to what they left us!
“If everyone is in the gym daily are team will improve extremely. It shows the coaches who wants to work and play. We also got some transfers in from another school that will help us out tremendously (not sure who that is at this time).
“Both of them know how to handle the ball and they both can shoot the ball well. They will be a big part of our team this year as they have potential to play varsity. Just like everyone’s goal our goal is to make the state tournament and win ourselves a state championship.”
After the summer of work football starts and Steckler is a strong football talent as well. Between football and basketball Steckler has a potential college sports future to think of, but yes it’s early.“I have not begun to think about college yet but I would like to play basketball or football! I’m interested in pursuing something in the field of criminal justice. I could see myself doing a criminal justice/ political science double major and attending law school.”