Prospect Spotlight: Josiah Conkrite (2019)
Des Moines Lincoln is off to a 2-0 start to their 2018-19 campaign, and senior guard Josiah Conkrite has been at the forefront of that early success.
It comes as little surprise, Conkrite, a 5-foot-10 senior, had a breakout season last winter for the Railsplitters. This winter, he’s continuing to showcase a high IQ, leadership and ability to score and take over games.
“I’m good at getting my team organized and I recognize when something is happening, and I know how to react to it,” said Conkrite. “Also, I like to set the tone on the court; whenever I get hype, my team gets hype. if I’m sluggish, my team gets sluggish.”
Even with the great success Conkrite’s enjoyed over the past year plus, he’s working to improve on a daily basis. It’s his court-presence that he’s working on the most.
“I still need to work on my shot, and my strength, but I mostly need to work on being more vocal. I have my days where I like to to yell and be active, and I have my days where I just want to be quiet, and I’m just trying to be more consistent at being louder and more active,” said Conkrite.
As a junior, Conkrite came onto the Iowa high school hoops scene while averaging 9.7 points and 2.5 assists per game for a five-win Rails squad. Now, he’s averaging 18 points and 4.5 assists through two games, and the Rails are almost halfway to their total win-total from last season in that time.
For Conkrite, it’s the leadership, and helping out his teammates in any way possible that’s been the emphasis this season.
“Now that I’m a senior, I need to be more of a leader and set an example for the players on the team, and the younger players that look up to me.”
“Our 2-0 start to the season will give us a lot more momentum then we had last year, and we should surprise people and beat teams that we’re not expected to beat.”
A still unsigned prospect, Conkrite says he’s been talking to a couple schools. But is still an available guard in Iowa’s 2019 recruiting class.
“My number one goal is to get my grades up. I think that will open up a lot of opportunities for me,” said Conkrite.
“Another important goal I have is to not just help myself with recruitment this year, but also help my teammates with theirs.”
Josiah Conkrite is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 100 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2019 class, click here.