April 8, 2022 at 6:46 a.m.
Smith voted Hodag Hoops MVP
Smith voted Hodag Hoops MVP
The Hodags were a senior-heavy squad this season and that was represented in the awards presented on Sunday. Senior Ryan Jamison won the most improved award, senior Caleb Olcikas earned both the team's Mr. Hustle and Mr. Defense awards and seniors Ty Welk and Jaden Beske were presented with Hodag Awards.
Kaleb Winter, a junior, also received a Hodag Award.
Smith, who will go on to play men's basketball at UW-Superior, averaged 17.4 points per game on his way to first-team All-Great Northern Conference honors for the Hodags this season. He also led the team, averaging 33 minutes per game.
"When you know you have a player that you can just give the basketball to and he's going to get it from one point of the court to the other, it's such a valuable thing to have, and you don't have it every single year," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said during Sunday's ceremony. "You've got a guy who can handle the basketball. He can attack. He can shoot. He can do all the things. Jacksen had that ability, brought so much and allowed us to do a lot of things offensively and defensively."
Jamison, back with the team after a couple of years away from basketball, averaged 8.4 points per game and led the team with 6.0 rebounds per contest. Lemmens said Jamison won the award due to the work he put in last offseason to make up for lost time.
"What was exciting was seeing the growth happen from this summer, through the fall and into this season," he said. "Watching him just casually shooting in the gym and talking about playing again, seeing him at open gyms and knowing he's for real, he's dedicated, he's doing this and then watching him play and really continue to grow as a player really makes me wish I had two years with him prior. But what he did to make up for it was really impressive and he was an incredibly valuable member of this team."
Olcikas averaged 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season, but made an impact as a defensive stopper for the Hodags. In presenting the award Lemmens mentioned Olcikas' work against Medford's Logan Baumgartner, holding the conference player of the year to 2 of 18 from the field in a 55-49 win over the Raiders in Rhinelander Jan. 4.
"We always put him on the best player and we always knew he was going to be there consistently for us, defensively," Lemmens said. "I think he took pride in that. He really worked hard ... I always appreciate the guys that are willing to do the gritty, the dirty, the not-so-enjoyable things, the things that don't always get the headlines, but the things that at the end of the day impact the game just as much as any points scored."
In presenting the Hodag Award, Lemmens credited Winter for his ability to come back from a knee injury that cost him his 2020-21 basketball season, praised Welk for his positive leadership and great energy and commended Beske for his hustle, effort and attitude in a limited varsity role.
"What we're looking for is who epitomized everything we're looking for in a player - not just as a basketball player, but as a student, as a human being, as a representative of our program, our team and our community," Lemmens said. "Who's willing do to all the little things? They're on time, they're always giving great effort, they're being positive, those type of things."
Rhinelander went 13-14 overall on the season but got hot in the playoffs, winning three straight games to reach the sectional semifinals of the WIAA tournament for the first time since 2014. As he did at the end of the season, Lemmens said the tournament run will be the lasting legacy for this year's senior class.
"What was special about this year is we played our best basketball down the stretch when it mattered," he said. "At times, we had the ups and downs, but to be able to finish the season the way we did really is what you want to see in any season."
Lemmens thanked the seniors for their dedication to the program, saying, "it's an amazing group. They're fun. They're great people. They're excellent students and they have very bright futures."
Despite losing that many seniors, there's optimism surrounding next season after the program went a combined 43-12 at the JV, JV2 and JV3 levels. Lemmens reiterated that they key will rest in the work the returning players put in during the offseason.
"Where we go from here is up to you," he said. "What you put into this offseason moving forward, it's going to be important in terms of what we want to be next year. Where do we want our team to be? What do we want our team to be? I hope we all realize that, to be successful at anything, it's a commitment and it's us being able to set a goal, create a plan and then stick through that even when we maybe don't want to. It's those types of people that are able to celebrate success."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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