Recruiting Report: Trace Couch (2017)
Photo Credit: Tim Alley
One of the reasons Tri-Village has been such a dominant team over the past several seasons has been having some hard-working physical players guide their team. Trace Couch (2017) is another great Patriot going through the program. With only a few more games left in his high school career, Trace hopes to add a state championship to an already great season so far.
During the offseason, Trace put in extra hours working on his game. “I spent a lot of time…polishing my game and I saw a positive outcome from the work I put in”. The work definitely showed as Trace was a leader for the Patriots throughout the season as one of their top post players. Trace also talked about some of the struggles Tri-Village faced early in the season. “As a team (the season) was a grind. We went through some obstacles with losing players and losing games, but we came back together and are playing really good ball right now”. The Patriots earned the number 2 seed in Dayton’s Division IV sectional/district bracket.
One of Trace’s best strengths is his ability to use his size offensively. Standing at 6’5, Trace is still working on his jump shot, but already has the post skills to be a strong scorer in college. Trace tells me he can score with his back to the basket when he draws a smaller defender or step out when he draws a bigger defender. As for areas of improvement, Trace wants to improve his game overall and “become the best player I can be”.
Trace and I also talked about the pressures of playing for Tri-Village and the target on their backs every given night. “Playing for Tri-Village, you have to bring your A-game every night. It’s everybody’s championship game and you’re going to get everybody’s best shot”. The Patriots entered this postseason as a number 2 seed in Division IV and unlike past seasons, entered with several losses. Even though they dealt with injuries and suspensions this season, the Patriots have are still notorious for being the top team in Division IV out of Dayton. The more success they have, the more they deal with a target on their back.
Besides his strong work ethic, Trace has seen improvement in his game because of the fantastic coaching of Josh Sagester. Before coming to Tri-Village, Trace “brought the ball up” for the teams he played for. Once arriving at Tri-Village, Sagester worked with Trace on his post offense and molded him into a low post threat. “(Coach Sagester) also mentally prepared me for college, by being a hard-nosed coach and expecting nothing but a winning program…he is the best coach in Ohio in my mind”.
Trace has college interest from Dawson Community College, the same school Coach Sagester played at. He also has a couple of Division 2 offers from Lane University, Apprentice University, and Kentucky State. IU Kokomo and Shawnee State are two NAIA schools that have offered Trace as well. Trace has visited Urbana University twice and really likes them. He is waiting to make his decision until after the season.