Recruiting Report: Ty Miklowski (2018)
***Photo by Cary Johnson
Ty Miklowski is leading Burnsville in scoring at nearly 15 points a game. The 6-foot-5 forward continues to improve with each and every day of basketball.
The Blaze have had a tough time so far this year though winning just two of their eleven games.
“Things have been tough for our team this year,” Miklowoski said. “We’ve had four guys leave the team because either they couldn’t handle constructive criticism or weren’t happy with playing time. We’ve most definitely moved on now and are better for it.
“Our record doesn’t reflect how good we really could be. Luckily we have quite a few games ahead. I believe we have enough talent. It’s just a matter of if we want to work hard enough to beat these teams. We just have to realize that.”
Ty broke things down for his team’s season to date quite well. With Josh Kamara, Marcus Shepley, Max May, and others still in the line-up the team has expectations.
“I believe we’ve had enough returning talent on this team to win some of these games,” Ty said. “It’s just a matter of stopping a few bad stretches and getting our heads on right during those games. I expect our team to only get better as the season progresses.
“There’s no way I’ll let excuses keep our team from improving. I think that once everyone buys into what our coaches preach, then we’ll play out of our minds.”
Obviously at 15 points a game almost doubling junior year scoring Miklowski has become better. He’s also more confident.
“This season I’ve demanded the ball more and become even more vocal in practice and games,” Ty said. “For too long have I’ve been this quiet guy who thought that I only had to lead by example. Our team goal has always been to win that first playoff game. There’s no doubt in my mind that by the time we get there we’ll be ready.
“From last season to this one I’ve improved immensely. I’ve spent countless hours in the weight room this past summer and had an AAU season that I’ll never forget.
“This year I’ve stepped up as our team’s leader and really set the bar in our practices. At this point in my career I feel that I’ve become more demanding of the ball, confident, and aggressive than in he past.
“I’ve become a better scorer and I can attribute this to my workouts with Mitch Ohnstad. Also, I’ve always taken pride in my defense. I enjoy taking on the challenge of guarding the other teams best player. Obviously, there’s some aspects of my game that still need some refining, but overall I’ve seen some major change from the year previous.”
Mikolowski turned a major corner this 17U year about halfway through the year and began contributing to the team consistently in many different ways. He’s done that with the Blaze this winter and it’s resulted in schools making calls to him about a college basketball future.
“I’ve been in contact with a few schools: Augsburg, MSOE, and St. Olaf who want me to play basketball. I’ve visited all three.
“Recently, I was able to catch a game between Augsburg and St. Olaf which was a good experience for me. I also attended a MSOE (Milwaukee School of Engineering) basketball camp in August.”