GreatLakeState
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From the Daily Inter Lake in Montana:
During pre-game warm-ups against Columbia Falls two weeks ago, some
members of Flathead's basketball team were engaged in an impromptu
dunk contest.
After a few pedestrian slams, senior Stetson Spooner shouted from the
student section, "Hey, Brock. Do something sweet."
What followed was a throw-down so sweet it would have made famed
dunk artist Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins smile.
Brock Osweiler took off from just inside the circle, pirouetted and put
home a textbook 360 slam.
Osweiler has been playing above the rim since he was a sixth-grader, but
even he was taken aback by what he had just done.
"I had no idea what to do," Osweiler said. "So I decided to try a 360 and it
went down. I was so jacked, because I had no idea I could do that."
He was so jacked he dropped 25 points on the defending Class A champs.
Just the first career-high game in a tenure no one is ever likely to forget.
Diaper Dandy
All over the country, freshmen are dealing with puberty, getting crammed
into lockers and being duct-taped to goalposts. Osweiler is dealing with
being perhaps the best freshman basketball player the Flathead Valley
has ever seen.
His career may only be four games old, but Osweiler is already the team's
go-to scorer in the paint. He's averaging 16.5 points, nine boards and
three assists per game, with more than a few blocks thrown in to boot.
Not surprisingly, the Braves have won all four games.
That trend is likely to continue after the New Year kicks off.
"We have a real shot of getting to Butte in March," Flathead coach Fred
Febach said, referring to the site of the Class AA state tournament. "We
just have to keep improving, and building on our chemistry and our
confidence."
Yes, the sky's the limit for the Braves. So, too, are the possibilities for
Osweiler.
"His potential has no limit," Febach said. "He's already a solid player who
brings great size and great attitude toward the game and his team. And
he's only going to get better.
"I'm curious to see how he's going to develop in respect to his size,
strength, quickness and skills."
Junior teammate Geoff Hogan already has an idea of how Osweiler will
develop.
"It's mind-boggling to think of how good he's going to be by the time
he's a senior," Hogan said. "He's only been here for four games and it
seems like he's been here four years. Come senior year, who's going to
stop him?
"I might have to come back and watch."
License to Drive
In most states, he wouldn't even be old enough to drive. But Osweiler,
who turned 15 on Nov. 22, already has his license and loves cruising
around in his black Dodge Durango.
"I spent the summer hanging around with people who have cars, but now
that I have one, I can go wherever I want," he said.
His license plate may read "LIL OZ," but make no mistake, there's nothing
little about Brock Osweiler.
Standing 6-foot-8, with Size 17 shoes and 215 pounds of ever-
increasing muscle, Osweiler has been towering over his peers since he
first picked up a basketball a decade ago.
As a seventh-grader, he was already 6-4 when he came to Febach's
attention at a summer hoops camp after moving from just outside
Bigfork.
"We had him play with the seventh graders the first day, but he was too
much for them," Febach said. "The rest of the camp he played with the
incoming freshmen and did a good job."
Osweiler already has caught the attention of more than a few NCAA
Division I scouts and coaches. Arizona coach Lute Olson and Gonzaga
have sent letters of interest to the high school.
Playing for the Yakima (Wash.) Elite, he's one of the top AAU players in
the country in his age group.
"By the middle of eighth grade, no one was stopping me no matter where
we went," Osweiler said. "Houston, Orlando, L.A., I was playing well
everywhere. Well, there was one guy in Detroit; he was only 6-3, but he
could jump out of the gym. He held me to like 14 or 16 points."
He also played in HoopFest Spokane, the nation's largest 3-on-3
basketball tournament, over the summer. His team, aptly named "Feed
the Big Man," won the title.
His summer wasn't done, however. Osweiler even had a chance to play in
a Las Vegas camp in front of Duke's Mike Krzyzewski.
Just this week he received an invite to play in next June's Adidas Phenom
Camp in San Diego, which includes the top freshmen and sophomores in
the country.
Osweiler is also considering an invitation to spend the summer at
Gonzaga. He's anticipating a 1-on-1 game against Zags star and soon-
to-be NBA Lottery pick Adam Morrison, who also spent his sophomore
summer at Gonzaga. He'll be in attendance today as the Zags take on St.
Joseph's in Spokane.
"I've talked with Morrison before," he said. "He's a hard-core guy."
If it sounds like too much, it just might be. Because as great as all those
things sound, they also present a quandary. Has too much happened too
soon to a 15-year-old kid?
The long, lost summer
While most kids Brock's age were busy doing absolutely nothing over the
summer, Brock was everywhere.
"Last summer, I spent five days in Kalispell," he said. "Sometimes it's hard
to come back for a day and go to the lake with my friends because I don't
want to leave.
"Then the next day, my parents would put me on a plane even though
sometimes I didn't want to go. In four-and-a-half weeks, I went from
Portland (Ore.) to Dallas to Las Vegas.
"I know it's kind of crazy to be 14 and playing in front of Lute Olson and
Coach K (Krzyzewski), but I had a lot of fun, too. At times I got tired of it,
but I got through it and it helped me mature."
Febach agrees.
"He's a very good kid. Very grounded and humble," Febach said. "His
parents (John and Kathy) did a good job."
There's also the soon-to-be-mounting pressure to produce a state title
for a Flathead team that hasn't won one since 1989, a year before Brock
was born.
The long road ahead
But Osweiler has no doubt that he'll win a state championship. In fact, his
goals are even loftier.
"I told Coach Febach when I started that if I don't win at least two state
titles while I'm here, I'll consider (my high school career) a failure," he
said. "There's no reason we shouldn't."
You may think that sounds *******y, but Osweiler is far from it.
"I always try and stay humble," he said. "I could wreck my knee tomorrow
and end up playing NAIA somewhere."
Therein lies another rub. Despite playing quarterback on Flathead's
varsity team in the fall, where he was able to effortlessly break off 50- to
55-yard passes, he knows his football career may soon be over because
of the possibility of a career-threatening injury.
"Everyone's asking me when I'm going to stop playing football, and when
I started getting letters from colleges I started thinking about it," Osweiler
said. "I put it out of my mind once I was in the game, because I love
football so much. But once I reach 6-10 I'll quit.
"I guess God wanted me to be a basketball player."
Brock has grown nearly nine inches the past three years. If his pituitary
gland doesn't slow down, he'll play himself off the gridiron by next
summer.
Aside from team goals, Osweiler has other targets set for his high school
career.
"I want to break all of (1970 Flathead grad) Brent Wilson's scoring
records," he said. "He scored 51 points in a game once and I want to beat
that. I scored 50 in a game last year against (Whitefish Jr. High)."
His skills in the post and his passing ability are easy to see. But Brock
knows he has a long way to go before he reaches college.
"I need to work on my defense, my foot speed and my shooting range,"
Osweiler said. "I want to have a game like Kevin Garnett  a big man who
can dribble and shoot.
"And I need to work on my free throws. I'm only at about 55-60 percent
right now and I want to get up to 75 (percent). I don't want teams to just
hack me."
During Friday's practice, the Braves lined up for free throws. For every
miss, the players had to run sprints from one end of the court to the
other. When it was Osweiler's turn, he calmly stepped to the line  and
shot an air ball.
"Boy, that's a freshman," an assistant coach remarked.
But even if his massive game has some obvious shortcomings, one
thing's for certain  the kid's special.
During pre-game warm-ups against Columbia Falls two weeks ago, some
members of Flathead's basketball team were engaged in an impromptu
dunk contest.
After a few pedestrian slams, senior Stetson Spooner shouted from the
student section, "Hey, Brock. Do something sweet."
What followed was a throw-down so sweet it would have made famed
dunk artist Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins smile.
Brock Osweiler took off from just inside the circle, pirouetted and put
home a textbook 360 slam.
Osweiler has been playing above the rim since he was a sixth-grader, but
even he was taken aback by what he had just done.
"I had no idea what to do," Osweiler said. "So I decided to try a 360 and it
went down. I was so jacked, because I had no idea I could do that."
He was so jacked he dropped 25 points on the defending Class A champs.
Just the first career-high game in a tenure no one is ever likely to forget.
Diaper Dandy
All over the country, freshmen are dealing with puberty, getting crammed
into lockers and being duct-taped to goalposts. Osweiler is dealing with
being perhaps the best freshman basketball player the Flathead Valley
has ever seen.
His career may only be four games old, but Osweiler is already the team's
go-to scorer in the paint. He's averaging 16.5 points, nine boards and
three assists per game, with more than a few blocks thrown in to boot.
Not surprisingly, the Braves have won all four games.
That trend is likely to continue after the New Year kicks off.
"We have a real shot of getting to Butte in March," Flathead coach Fred
Febach said, referring to the site of the Class AA state tournament. "We
just have to keep improving, and building on our chemistry and our
confidence."
Yes, the sky's the limit for the Braves. So, too, are the possibilities for
Osweiler.
"His potential has no limit," Febach said. "He's already a solid player who
brings great size and great attitude toward the game and his team. And
he's only going to get better.
"I'm curious to see how he's going to develop in respect to his size,
strength, quickness and skills."
Junior teammate Geoff Hogan already has an idea of how Osweiler will
develop.
"It's mind-boggling to think of how good he's going to be by the time
he's a senior," Hogan said. "He's only been here for four games and it
seems like he's been here four years. Come senior year, who's going to
stop him?
"I might have to come back and watch."
License to Drive
In most states, he wouldn't even be old enough to drive. But Osweiler,
who turned 15 on Nov. 22, already has his license and loves cruising
around in his black Dodge Durango.
"I spent the summer hanging around with people who have cars, but now
that I have one, I can go wherever I want," he said.
His license plate may read "LIL OZ," but make no mistake, there's nothing
little about Brock Osweiler.
Standing 6-foot-8, with Size 17 shoes and 215 pounds of ever-
increasing muscle, Osweiler has been towering over his peers since he
first picked up a basketball a decade ago.
As a seventh-grader, he was already 6-4 when he came to Febach's
attention at a summer hoops camp after moving from just outside
Bigfork.
"We had him play with the seventh graders the first day, but he was too
much for them," Febach said. "The rest of the camp he played with the
incoming freshmen and did a good job."
Osweiler already has caught the attention of more than a few NCAA
Division I scouts and coaches. Arizona coach Lute Olson and Gonzaga
have sent letters of interest to the high school.
Playing for the Yakima (Wash.) Elite, he's one of the top AAU players in
the country in his age group.
"By the middle of eighth grade, no one was stopping me no matter where
we went," Osweiler said. "Houston, Orlando, L.A., I was playing well
everywhere. Well, there was one guy in Detroit; he was only 6-3, but he
could jump out of the gym. He held me to like 14 or 16 points."
He also played in HoopFest Spokane, the nation's largest 3-on-3
basketball tournament, over the summer. His team, aptly named "Feed
the Big Man," won the title.
His summer wasn't done, however. Osweiler even had a chance to play in
a Las Vegas camp in front of Duke's Mike Krzyzewski.
Just this week he received an invite to play in next June's Adidas Phenom
Camp in San Diego, which includes the top freshmen and sophomores in
the country.
Osweiler is also considering an invitation to spend the summer at
Gonzaga. He's anticipating a 1-on-1 game against Zags star and soon-
to-be NBA Lottery pick Adam Morrison, who also spent his sophomore
summer at Gonzaga. He'll be in attendance today as the Zags take on St.
Joseph's in Spokane.
"I've talked with Morrison before," he said. "He's a hard-core guy."
If it sounds like too much, it just might be. Because as great as all those
things sound, they also present a quandary. Has too much happened too
soon to a 15-year-old kid?
The long, lost summer
While most kids Brock's age were busy doing absolutely nothing over the
summer, Brock was everywhere.
"Last summer, I spent five days in Kalispell," he said. "Sometimes it's hard
to come back for a day and go to the lake with my friends because I don't
want to leave.
"Then the next day, my parents would put me on a plane even though
sometimes I didn't want to go. In four-and-a-half weeks, I went from
Portland (Ore.) to Dallas to Las Vegas.
"I know it's kind of crazy to be 14 and playing in front of Lute Olson and
Coach K (Krzyzewski), but I had a lot of fun, too. At times I got tired of it,
but I got through it and it helped me mature."
Febach agrees.
"He's a very good kid. Very grounded and humble," Febach said. "His
parents (John and Kathy) did a good job."
There's also the soon-to-be-mounting pressure to produce a state title
for a Flathead team that hasn't won one since 1989, a year before Brock
was born.
The long road ahead
But Osweiler has no doubt that he'll win a state championship. In fact, his
goals are even loftier.
"I told Coach Febach when I started that if I don't win at least two state
titles while I'm here, I'll consider (my high school career) a failure," he
said. "There's no reason we shouldn't."
You may think that sounds *******y, but Osweiler is far from it.
"I always try and stay humble," he said. "I could wreck my knee tomorrow
and end up playing NAIA somewhere."
Therein lies another rub. Despite playing quarterback on Flathead's
varsity team in the fall, where he was able to effortlessly break off 50- to
55-yard passes, he knows his football career may soon be over because
of the possibility of a career-threatening injury.
"Everyone's asking me when I'm going to stop playing football, and when
I started getting letters from colleges I started thinking about it," Osweiler
said. "I put it out of my mind once I was in the game, because I love
football so much. But once I reach 6-10 I'll quit.
"I guess God wanted me to be a basketball player."
Brock has grown nearly nine inches the past three years. If his pituitary
gland doesn't slow down, he'll play himself off the gridiron by next
summer.
Aside from team goals, Osweiler has other targets set for his high school
career.
"I want to break all of (1970 Flathead grad) Brent Wilson's scoring
records," he said. "He scored 51 points in a game once and I want to beat
that. I scored 50 in a game last year against (Whitefish Jr. High)."
His skills in the post and his passing ability are easy to see. But Brock
knows he has a long way to go before he reaches college.
"I need to work on my defense, my foot speed and my shooting range,"
Osweiler said. "I want to have a game like Kevin Garnett  a big man who
can dribble and shoot.
"And I need to work on my free throws. I'm only at about 55-60 percent
right now and I want to get up to 75 (percent). I don't want teams to just
hack me."
During Friday's practice, the Braves lined up for free throws. For every
miss, the players had to run sprints from one end of the court to the
other. When it was Osweiler's turn, he calmly stepped to the line  and
shot an air ball.
"Boy, that's a freshman," an assistant coach remarked.
But even if his massive game has some obvious shortcomings, one
thing's for certain  the kid's special.