Lindfors finds right fit
This area is not flush with 6-foot-10 basketball players.
Specifically sleek 6-10 players who can dunk, dribble-drive, hit the 3, rebound, play facing the basket or away from it, post up smaller players and force bigger ones outside.
Because he has those skills, Driscoll senior Jake Lindfors will be playing basketball at Division I Albany (N.Y.).
Choosing Albany from a list of suitors that included Western Illinois, Illinois State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Eastern Kentucky and Florida Gulf Coast, the all-area post player is Driscoll's first boys basketball Division I recruit.
Just in time.
"Definitely, it's a big relief," said Lindfors, 17, who averaged 17.6 points and 9.5 rebounds with 54 blocked shots last year as a junior.
"I had coaches calling me, being at the gym every day. So now I can concentrate on my studies and on my playing," said Lindfors, an AAU teammate of Wheaton North's John Bagge, himself headed to Hillsdale (Mich.).
Along with Driscoll coach Nick Latorre and club coach Mike Weinstein, Lindfors had another experienced hand helping him make his choice.
His father, Ron Lindfors, went through the same deal as a 6-10 all-stater at Leyden. Ron -- whose wife, Pam, is 5-11 -- went to Bradley before transferring to Northern Illinois.
"He knew everything," Jake said. "He found out about the coaches and the programs and he wasn't going to let me make the wrong decision."
From Sept. 16-18 Lindfors and his parents got a closer look at Albany, which went 23-10 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament a second straight year.
They found what they were seeking: academics, team chemistry, a nice campus, and people like Great Danes coach Will Brown and assistant Chad O'Donnell, who recruited Lindfors.
The clincher was a chance to play big minutes right off the bat, Lindfors said.
"That's very hard to find, especially as a freshman," he said. "There will be no redshirting at all."
Sometimes great talent obscures the person inside. Along with his basketball skills, however, Lindfors had another selling point.
"A lot of the coaches, they just liked Jake," Latorre said. "They just liked his personality."
Ultimate Warrior
With her 6-0, 6-0 win at East Aurora on Tuesday, Waubonsie Valley senior tennis player Bryna Nasenbeny tied the school record for career wins at 97, with Erica Engle (1998-2001).
A three-time state qualifier and two-time all-stater who has the Warriors' top season mark with 33 wins in 2005, Nasenbeny has two chances this week to set a new mark and reach 100 victories.
The Division I recruit was pitted against St. Charles North's Annemijn Koenen at No. 1 singles Thursday.
If not then, Nasenbeny will go for it Saturday in a doubles tournament at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Human vacuum speaker
After distributing glorious rings to Neuqua Valley's 2007 Class AA state championship baseball team at a football halftime ceremony, Wildcats coach by Robin Renner disclosed that the speaker for his annual Opportunity Through Baseball benefit will be Brooks Robinson.
The Hall of Fame Baltimore Oriole's usual fee is $25,000, Renner said. After hearing about the several charities "Opportunities" benefits, he lowered his rate to a more palatable figure.
College achievers
Former Timothy Christian standout Benj Petroelje, now a senior soccer goalkeeper at Taylor University (Ind.), on Tuesday was named the Mid-Central Conference and NAIA Region VIII defensive player of the week. To cap a four-game win streak Petroelje made 8 saves in a 1-0 win, his fourth shutout of the season.
Earlier this month, Northern Illinois freshman Dani D'Ambrose (Addison Trail) was named Mid-American Conference West Division player of the week for women's volleyball. Highlighted by a 29-kill match, D'Ambrose had 89 kills and racked up 95 points.
Wheaton North soccer players filled the bill in men's and women's soccer for Augustana. At the Luther College Invitational (Iowa), former Falcons Lauren Polock and Katie Oakes were women's all-tourney team picks, while Dan Hogan made the men's squad.
Previously, Augustana freshman Courtney Jungnickel (Naperville Central) was named all-tourney at the Emory Invitational in Atlanta.