Prospect Spotlight: Jack Kostel (2020)
As a sophomore at Mill Creek, 6-foot-2 point guard Jack Kostel was a starter, but didn’t quite have the voice he wanted on the team.
Now, as he heads into his junior season, his leadership will ramp up, and his production too.
“I’m looking forward to taking a bigger role and more of a leadership role now that I’m an upperclassmen. As a sophomore, you can say something and people can listen, or not. But this year, I really feel like I have a chance to actually be a leader,” said Kostel.
“So, I’m excited to play a bigger role and I think we have a chance to be really good.”
Leadership is something that Kostel will take a lot of pride in this season. And his ability to be a smart and effective player for the Hawks.
“I love being able to be a guy that coaches trust, and being out there when they need me,” said Kostel. “I like being a leader and being able to be trusted in the fourth quarter, that type of player.”
His ability to shoot the ball and to drive and kick has improved greatly over the past six months. Thanks in large part to his time spent playing up a grade with Atlanta Timberwolves 17U.
“That whole team was just full of people that really know the game, and we had a lot of fun. I got so much better as the season went on, in every aspect of my game, defense, ball-handling, shooting, passing, rebounding,” said Kostel.
“I’m so glad I played up because it got me better for varsity and for playing higher competition because we play some really good teams.”
In addition to playing 17U ball, Kostel was able to attend plenty of elite camps, “A lot of coaches have kept in touch with me,” he said.
Appalachian State, Alabama-Huntsville, Georgia College and American are the schools he mentioned as showing the most interest right now.
But with still two seasons of high school ball, and a full grassroots ahead of him, recruitment can take a back seat, for now.
“I want to look back on this season and know that my hard work paid off,” said Kostel. “And try and make a run to state, and I think we can.”