Geneva senior Tucholski makes team after being cut 3 times

Three strikes, yet David Tucholski would not be called out.

He tried out for Geneva's freshman boys basketball team and the sophomore team and, when he was a junior, the varsity team. Coaches cut him all three times.

"They said my skill level wasn't there and that I needed to work on the whole quickness and defensive thing," Tucholski said.

By last season Tucholski had collected enough pink slips to start a small intimates shop. He hadn't made his seventh- or eighth-grade teams, either.

"Keep working at it," was the advice.

Tucholski took it - and after this good penny turned up yet again for Geneva's tryouts in November. "D.T." made an organized basketball team for the first time.

"The kid made a tremendous turnaround with his skills and his shooting between last year and this year," said Vikings coach Phil Ralston, who noted the 6-foot-4 forward made one of the "more remarkable" one-year improvements he's seen.

"I really appreciate that he believed in me this season and chose me to be on the team," Tucholski said. "It means a lot. There's 15 or 16 guys on the team and there's like 21 or 22 who tried out" - 24, actually - "so he had to cut a few, and one of those guys wasn't me. I was ecstatic at the end."

Despite the three earlier rejections, Tucholski had never really left the scene. That's due to his love of the sport and to the credit of Vikings coaches who hadn't merely waved goodbye.

He didn't make the freshman team but he helped manage it, keeping statistics and participating in practice. After sophomore cuts, former Vikings varsity coach Tim Pease asked him to help with the varsity. The young man filmed games and ran drills with the players.

"That actually was probably one of the greatest experiences I've had, varsity-wise, being a sophomore and playing with all the upper classmen," said Tucholski, 18.

Taken aback by the resignation of Pease after the 2007-08 season and the installation of the then-unfamiliar Ralston as head coach, Tucholski admittedly felt "hesitant" entering tryouts his junior year. Hesitant doesn't work in these cases.

He got cut a third straight year - but persevered. Tucholski wore out the Persinger Recreation Center in Geneva. He played nearly every day, two to three hours with whomever showed up. Instead of joining Geneva's summer team he intensified his Park District workouts, adding big man skill sessions with Pease and former Geneva sophomore coach Andrew Browning.

"When he did show up," Ralston said, "he looked like a completely different kid. He'd developed a smooth shot, a nice release, great balance. It's clear that he's worked on many aspects of the fundamentals."

And maybe a quirk or two.

"He's got a hook shot that nobody can block," said Vikings teammate Brandon Beitzel.

Taller, faster, less nervous and bringing a head of steam, Tucholski gave it one last crack. What did he have to lose?

It felt good when players like leading scorer and co-captain Nolan Block encouraged him. It's hard not to appreciate someone chasing a dream so doggedly.

"You just keep going after the things you love, and basketball's a thing he loves," said Beitzel, the senior forward-center who will match up against Tucholski in practice.

"He just went after it, went after it, went after it, and this year his dream of actually making the team finally came true. And I think he's going to start seeing some playing time this year, I really do."

Mission finally accomplished, Tucholski uses practice pointers from Ralston and varsity assistant Mike Pope and contributes when he can. He scored all of his 3 points in a win over Wilmington at the DeKalb Holiday Tournament. Most of his minutes come in junior varsity contests, though after watching the first seven varsity games from the bench he played in four of the last five entering the Jan. 22 Glenbard South game.

"I'm not putting up great numbers, but I'm helping out the offense and defense," he said.

He's also found camaraderie unavailable at open gym - no matter how good your skyhook.

"It's a lot of work but the little mini-games and the little side conversations, they're excellent," he said. "Everyone on the team has a certain aspect that makes it fun for each other. Other than someone getting out of line and making the team run, it's good."

High school athletics being an extension of the classroom, coaches like Ralston value when such traits as diligence and resolve bear fruit. Ralston's a competitor who will be judged by his success or lack thereof - but he's also partial to the late bloomer, the great practice player, the good kid.

"I think what's truly rewarding is when you have a success story like David's," Ralston said. "At the end of the year, a lot of people will be evaluating things in wins and losses, but I'll be evaluating if it was a great experience for him. And hopefully it is."

Three strikes couldn't get this Geneva Viking out.

"The quote," Tucholski said, "is never give up."