Canadian Family: 2012 St. Mark’s Nick Stauskas

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Canada, Oh Canada, What have you brought boxofmess.com today? Oh, Nick Stauskas, great! Yesterday, Erin Ashley, got a chance to talk with the 6’5″ wing guard to see where he is at in his college recruiting process. During the chat, we were also able to learn a few more interesting things about this 2012 Canadian player. To start off we learned about his current list, which has actually increased after the interview: “Offers: Michigan, Wake Forest, Stanford, Butler, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State. (Update: Nov 29th) Also, Kansas, Pitt and WVU are recruiting me.” The college list for Stauskas continues to grow but even still, out of the list of schools he has only visited one school, ” I visited Michigan and I really like the coaching staff, they are all nice and know what they are doing. I liked the facilities; they are actually in the middle of building the practices facilities so, when I get there, it will be there. That’s pretty impressive.” Seems like Stauskas’ visit to Michigan left an everlasting impression on him, but… they won’t be the only school on his college visit list: “I plan on visiting Wake Forest.” Maybe he will have another great experience at Wake Forest as he did at Michigan.

Hopefully, he will find what he is looking for in a school and program at Wake Forest and any other school he plans on visiting: “Things I’m looking for in a school and program: A team that likes to shoot a lot, gets up and down the floor, 3-4 offense type of school, Good academics and pretty much all of these schools have good academics.” Academics appeared to be a key trend throughout the conversation with Stauskas, especially when we began to talk about what he would like to pursue academically in college: ” I would like to major in kinesiology or some kind of sports science.” Academics may be one factor but surprisingly distances is a little factor too: “Yeah, distance is a little bit of a factor, that’s why I really like Michigan right now. They are probably the closest I get to home because I live in Toronto. Same thing… I’m at Prep School right now and I’ll always be pretty far from home but Michigan will be pretty far away.” So, does Michigan have an advantage over the other schools? It’s possible but, with the opening of new schools… will distance still be a factor? Who knows… all we know is that Stauskas had a lot of good things and had some interesting things to say about Michigan: “I think right now they are at a rebuilding stage. I don’t think they will be amazing. I think they can do all right, I think it will be a couple years before they get to the high level they use to be at.”

So, other schools can still have a shot at grabbing Nick Stauskas, who is a great team player: “Definitely a team player. Especially with the coach we have at our prep school, he stresses a lot on passes on offense. Also, getting the ball moving before anyone goes one on one , so definitely a team player.” Stauskas is a team player looking for a “WE” team instead of a “ME” team: ” I’m definitely looking for a team that likes to get the basketball moving and everyone likes to share the ball because I’m not really a one on one type of player.” He may not be a one on one type of player but he also has other strengths that can help benefit the college teams who have offered, ” My strengths are my shooting game and basketball IQ. But, I would like to work on my weaknesses, athleticism and my defense.” With these strengths and weaknesses, Stauskas compared himself to Miami Heat’s Mike Miller: “I would compare myself to Mike Miller.”

Besides basketball, Nick Stauskas is a real family guy who enjoys simply spending time with his family: “What people don’t really know about me is that I’m a family guy, I like spending time with my family. If I probably do anything, I would stay at home and watch TV with my family.” During the times he is at home, he enjoys bonding with his father: “I love watching golf with my father, I like to play golf, just more of a fun thing, I hope one day to be good; my dad plays it pretty seriously. I want to be good enough to go and have fun everyday, not like professional good; it’s just kind of a hobby.” But, golf isn’t the only thing Nick plays or watches in order to bond with his father: ” I think basketball is definitely more of a bonding thing for my dad, he is just as big a basketball fan as a golf fan.” So, with all this bonding, did his father inspire him to play basketball? “It was a little more my uncle who got me playing basketball but, my dad helped me with everything I know, trained me and worked with me on a lot of stuff. My uncle was a basketball coach when I was 7 years old; he invited me to play for his club team. That was the first time I’ve ever played and I really liked it. From there on I continued to play.” Family guy, good basketball player, and a real team player, I’m sure Nick will do well anywhere he decides to go.

Boxofmess.com says Thanks to Nick Stauskas for doing the interview with us here at boxofmess.com. Look out for Nick’s commit at the end of this year; Nick Stauskas will be committing around the end of the summer or beginning of the school year next year.

Extra Interesting Facts
Style of Play: ” I have more freedom and comfort with my club team then my prep school. But, there is not much a different in style of play, deals more with freedm and comfort.”

Nick Stauskas in 10 years: “I see myself playing basketball professionally. Doesn’t really matter to me what team, probably somewhere warm.”

Free time: No free time really, no time but really for basketball and homework. Being at a prep school is one thing you enjoy meeting new people and stuff. When you live with your team, you live with the player on the team and you have a good relationship. That helps on the court because you’re so familiar with the team.

photos thanks to Nick and Trailcanada