Annabelle de St. MauriceFour years ago, they were just lowly freshman trying to adjust to college-life at this haven in the Midwest.
Now, they’re the leaders of the top-ranked basketball team in Division III.
Joel Parrott, Matt Tabash, Dustin Tylka, Chris Jeffries and Jarriot Rook. these five all entered WU in the fall of 1999, grew up together in the system, and now make-up the team’s starting lineup.
“Its been a lot of fun,” Tabash said. “Coming in, usually you don’t have a class with as many guys as we had. Being able to come up through the system, and spending all four years together, has been great from the basketball standpoint.”
As WU prepares to face the pressure of being the number one ranked team in the nation, these five know that the team’s fate rests in their hands.
“We are the leaders of this team. its up to us to push the others and help everyone contribute to the team,” Rook said. “We help them realize that its not just us, its also them. Knowing that the five of us can carry the weight on our shoulders even though we don’t have to, it shows how much this team has really come together.”
As these seniors now make up the starting team, keep in mind this wasn’t like the “fab-five” with Michigan in the early 90’s, where all five players started as freshmen. These guys have gone through the growing pains, learned from one another and in the end, their hard work has finally paid off.
“Freshman year, we’d finally get to play at the ends of games together. all five of us,” said Parrott. “Right now though, its not only us five, but there’s nine of us [seniors]. We’re all best friends, some of us live together. overall its been an amazing experience.”
Each of these players understandably played large roles last year, their first full year of playing together as the starting unit. Jeffries led the team in points and rebounds, with Rook right behind him in each of those categories as well as leading the team in blocks. Tabash was the team’s leader in assists, steals, and minutes played.
While these five have helped turn WU into a perennial contender, one cannot go through the hardships of leading a team without creating emotional bonds with one another. That chemistry is ever-present in these individuals.
“These guys have basically become my best friends in college,” said Rook. “I couldn’t imagine a better group of guys, these are life-long friendships, and I couldn’t imagine changing it for anything else in the world.”
“We’re really tight, we spend time during the summer visiting each other’s houses,” said Parrot. “Even our parents get along. its really awesome.”
It is understandably rare to have a starting lineup composed entirely of seniors. Many schools try to avoid this to prevent the disaster that occurs the following year after the team has graduated. However, these guys were the best players on this team when they were sophomores, which says a lot about how special they are when they’re on the floor together.
“We’ve been able to get really close of the court,” said Tabash. “I think that helps us elevate our performance on the court as well.”
As all things come to an end, this season will be the end of an era for WU when they bid goodbye to the players who have been the backbone of this team for the last three years.
However, as these five embark on their final season together, they all agree that there will be plenty of time to reminisce later.
“I’m sure it’ll be something that will probably hit us towards the end of the season,” said Tabash. “But right now, we’re just trying to stay focused and win a national championship.”