<p>Last winter when the Breakdown hosted the Winter Lakes event, [player_tooltip player_id="567071" first="Sam" last="Votava"] had the day’s only triple double. It was a great example of his full season of work. Today we talked to Sam about his final season.</p>
<p>Sam put together a junior year that included a 26-3 record while Sam averaged 15 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 3.8 steals a game. He was named the conference MVP and at the moment holds the school records for career assists, steals, and games played. </p>
<p>"Sam is a complete team player who looks to get everybody on the team involved," East Grand Forks Coach John Perkerewicz. </p>
<p>At some point Votava will jump full swing into basketball but he’s also something else big going on, in addition to the daily workouts. </p>
<p>"I play football so I am in the middle of that," Sam said. "I play quarterback. Otherwise just getting into the gym and shooting a couple times a week."</p>
<p>The Wave have won two of five games and will play their next section game this weekend. As for the basketball season, Votava has a pair of starters back with him in Tanner Campos and Ayden Stainbrook so expectations will still be high. </p>
<p>"We look good," Sam said. "We graduated some starters last year but we return a lot of good players. Some guys that maybe didn’t play last year will have big roles this year.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1rem;">"We want to play for a section championship. We came up a little short last year but we want it to happen."</span></p>
<p>EGF lost 66-63 to Perham and the one score loss left a bad taste in their mouth. Sam also played for a solid Minnesota Comets team this summer and while doing that several college coaches took notice. What did they notice about Votava?</p>
<p>"My ability to handle the ball and run an offense. I think me being a good defender has led to that as well."</p>
<p>Several schools are interested but two are showing Sam the most interest. </p>
<p>"Lake Region State and Concordia-Moorhead," Sam said. "For recruitment (to take another step) I’d say improving my game for the college level to see if I get more interest."</p>
<p> </p>
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