Recruiting Report: Nate Karsjens (2017)
A three sport star at AGWSR, 6-foot-7 power forward Nate Karsjens could have plenty of college options by the time his senior year is over. Currently Karsjens is seeing some Division I interest for track and Division II interest…
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Continue ReadingA three sport star at AGWSR, 6-foot-7 power forward Nate Karsjens could have plenty of college options by the time his senior year is over.
Currently Karsjens is seeing some Division I interest for track and Division II interest for football. For basketball it’s mostly Division III and NAIA interest.
“I took a visit to Iowa for track, they want me to come and throw discuss. And then I took a visit to Winona State for football.”
He outlined his basketball interest.
“Northwestern has been talking to me a lot, and Briar Cliff, and pretty much all the D3 schools in Iowa,” said Karsjens, who also mentioned D2s Northwest Missouri State and Upper Iowa have inquired for hoops.
Karsjens acknowledges that basketball has always been, and remains to be his favorite sport, but he’s going to land wherever he can get the most scholarship money.
“I like basketball the best, and I always have. But the more I play football, and track the more I feel that I might be better at those sports. But basketball is still my favorite sport,” said Karsjens.
“Right now I’m thinking about scholarships, and how free I can go to college. My brother went to Wartburg and played sports, and just seeing how much student loan debt he still has and he’s in his 30s. So I mean going to a school almost for free would be a big factor, and another factor is how well I fit in with the school.”
Since his freshman season with the Cougars, Karsjens has been sensationally productive, especially offensively. He averaged 16.9 points and 9.3 rebounds last season.
Now as he heads into his final season, he says defense and his leadership are two things he’ll be prioritizing.
“I’ve really been working on my defense, that was just a big hole in my game. Playing defense is more of a mindset, you have to want to do it, and I really worked on that this summer,” said Karsjens.
“This year I’ll need to be more of a vocal leader. My freshman year I would barely say anything, I would just go out there and score points. And sophomore and junior year I was a little more vocal. But I’ll have to really be vocal this season. All the players on the team look up to me, and if I play hard they’ll want to play hard too.”