Fox captain: Hard work paid big dividends for Jacobs' Krutwig
A defining moment in the young life of Jacobs center Conrad Krutwig occurred in the spring of 2006, when the then-15-year-old was summoned to coach Jim Hinkle's office for a heart-to-heart talk.
Krutwig's talent was obvious. The tallest kid in his class since the fifth grade, he played for three years in the Jacobs feeder system before entering high school. Recognizing the raw potential in the Westfield Middle Schooler, Hinkle placed the budding big man on the Jacobs varsity team as a freshman. Krutwig played heavy minutes that first season alongside Mike Steib and boyhood pals Kevin, Johnny and Tim Moran.
But Hinkle saw greater potential than what Krutwig was producing off the court late in his freshman year. Like many young people he hadn't yet developed the motivation to match his potential. His grades at the time left him dangling perilously close to the ineligibility line, and his off-season work ethic wasn't matching his coach's vision.
The conversation was frank.
"He said, 'Look, you have to start performing,' Krutwig recalled this week. 'You have to do better in school and you have to work hard in the off-season.'
"I just said to myself, 'Do I just want to be just a high school player, or do I want to try and play in college?' With the AAU team I was with (Illinois Wolves), I knew I could get a scholarship if I worked hard. And if I was with coach, I knew I could improve my grades because he was going to show me every single thing to do."
The result of that chat? Krutwig started hitting the weight room and open gyms more regularly. More importantly, he hit the books harder, too.
"I don't think I've gotten a C in high school since coach told me I had to start getting good grades," Krutwig said. "He put the fear of God in me."
Hinkle lit Krutwig's inner pilot light with that talk, but the coach credits the player for heeding the advice and turning a small fire into an unstoppable conflagration.
"Hard work is what made him a good student and a good player," Hinkle said. "Conrad has exceeded expectations. When he came into school he didn't have that great a work ethic as an underclassman. He worked hard to get that academic thing out of the way and he really blossomed. Boy, he stepped it up, and it's paid off for him."
Krutwig's hard work paid off not only for himself but for the Jacobs boys basketball program. After qualifying academically and achieving the ACT score necessary to play at the next level, Krutwig committed last fall to play college basketball at the University of South Dakota, a program that jumped this season from Division II to Division I.
The four-year varsity player entered this week's state tournament the owner of a rare statistical double: he leads the area in scoring (21.7 avg.) and rebounding (9.0).
The most dominant player in the Fox Valley Conference this season for a team that finished the regular season with a record of 23-3, Krutwig surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for his career in November on the way to scoring 564 points and hauling in 234 rebounds (65 offensive). He also has 47 blocked shots, 63 assists, a 73-percent efficiency from the free-throw line (90 of 124) and can step out to the perimeter and sink the occasional 3-pointer (10 of 25).
For these achievements Conrad Krutwig of Jacobs High School has been named the honorary co-captain of the 2008-09 Daily Herald All-Area team.
Krutwig, honorary co-captain Marc Little of Bartlett, girls captain Katie Yohn of St. Edward and the rest of the all-area team and the players of the week will receive their awards this Sunday evening at the Daily Herald All-Area Recognition Banquet at Stonegate Conference and Banquet Centre in Hoffman Estates.
Krutwig's development as a player helped Jacobs thrive once again this season despite the graduation of all-everything star guard John Moran, who now excels at Northern Iowa.
Jacobs' cupboard was far from bare after Moran's graduation with the return of Krutwig, four-year varsity performer Tim Moran and a host of young talent champing at the bit to compete at guard. But 23-3 post-Johnny?
"I wouldn't say people thought this was going to be a rebuilding year, but nobody thought we were going to be 23-3 right now," said the son of Kevin and Lori Krutwig of Algonquin. "When people think of Jacobs High School they think of Johnny because of the legacy he left here. This year I just wanted to make it my own year. I wanted to make a statement."
Krutwig's statement will be hard to match for future Golden Eagles. Beyond the points and rebounds, this season he and fellow senior Tim Moran eclipsed John Moran's school record for most wins in a career. The two close friends can boast years from now of their 93 victories and 18 losses in four years of high school basketball entering this week's state tournament.
"It's been remarkable," Krutwig said. "We've won 20-plus games three seasons now. I love to win and it doesn't get old. You don't think about those kinds of stats, but when you see it on paper you can look back and say, yeah, we accomplished that."
South Dakota believes Krutwig will only improve further at the college level.
"We love that kid," South Dakota coach Dave Boots said. "He's going to be an impact guy for us right away. A great kid from a great family who happens to be a great player."
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>All-Area basketball teams coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Cook County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276980">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276982">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276929">Captain: Ashley Wilson</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276927">Captain: Cully Payne</a></li> </ul> <h2>Cook PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>DuPage County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276984">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276985">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276917">Captain: Toni Kokenis </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276915">Captain: Danny Crawford</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276916">Past girls captains</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276914">Past boys captains</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276931">The best of the girls season</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276930">The best of the boys season</a></li> </ul> <h2>DuPage PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Fox Valley</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276978">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276990">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276709">Captain: Kati Yohn </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276820">Captain: Marc Little</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276780">Captain: Conrad Krutwig</a></li> </ul> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/multimedia/?category=19&type=video&item=88">Fox Valley captains </a></li> </ul> <h2>Fox Valley PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley5.pdf">Page 5 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Lake County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276987">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276981">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276907">Captain: Lydia Bauer </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276908">Captain: Brandon Paul</a></li> </ul> <h2>Lake PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Tri Cities</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276989">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276988">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276904">Captain: Taylor Whitley </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276905">Captain: Jeremy D'Amico</a></li> </ul> <h2>Tri Cities PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities5.pdf">Page 5 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> </div> </div> </div>