Prospect Update: Gage Stoddard (2021)
Last July PrepHoops Idaho first caught up with Gage Stoddard as he was starting his AAU travel season playing for Cache Valley Elite. With the 2019 AAU travel season almost upon us again we wanted to catch up with Stoddard, who is currently ranked #12 in the (2021) class on PrepHoops Idaho, and see how things are going.
After finishing a successful summer with Cache Valley Elite playing in a number of tournaments including the Las Vegas Fab 48 tournament, Stoddard was invited to participate in some fall events. “I got to play in the Christian PoPoola Eat Utah Camp in September and also the West Coast Elite All Star Camp in October. Both were in Salt Lake City, Ut and were a lot of fun. There were some really good players there and it is nice to see how I compared and what I needed to work on. I also got to workout with Exum Elite which was a great experience.” At the West Coast Elite All Star Camp Stoddard was selected for the Top 60 All Star team.
One of Stoddard’s goals for his high school team this season was to be a consistent contributor on varsity. “This year as a sophomore I just wanted to help my team however I could and be a consistent player my coach and team could count on.” Stoddard started the year coming off the bench. By the 5th game of the year he had worked his way into the starting line up and stayed there the rest of the year.
“This season was a lot of fun. We are a young team. Last year we graduated a lot of seniors. This year we only had 1 senior so we didn’t have a lot of varsity experience, but we have played together for a long time growing up.” That history of playing together helped them put together a very good season ending 18-7 overall. Even though they finished with a winning record, Grace was one win short of a trip to the state tournament losing the district championship. “This year didn’t end the way we wanted it to but it is motivation for next year. We still did some good things and 4 of our 5 starters will be back next year.” Stoddard ended the year averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers per game.
With this being Stoddard’s first full season of varsity action I asked him what his favorite memory was from this season. “My favorite memory from this season would have to be from our game against Soda Springs. We were taking the ball out of bounds under our own basket, down 1 point with 3.5 seconds left in the game. I got the inbound pass and was fouled on the shot. I was able to make both foul shots and we won the game by 1 point. It helped build my confidence for the rest of the season.”
Stoddard has also played in some showcases put on by Mountain Hoops. “I really like playing in these showcases. They are different from others because the teams are coached by actual college coaches. So you get to learn from them and get to meet them and the competition is really good. I am excited to play in it again on the 23rd of this month.” As far as playing basketball at the next level? “I would really like to. I have always had that as a goal and if the opportunity is there for me to play I will take it. Since Grace is a small town not real close to anywhere, I am doing everything in my power to make it happen. I have a NCSA profile, and try to go to as many things as I can to get exposure.”
This summer is going to be a busy one for Stoddard, “I am planning on playing for Cache Valley Elite again this summer. I am excited to go back to Las Vegas and play and hopefully go to California this year. In June my high school team is going to some camps and tournaments, I am looking forward to playing as much as I can this summer.” Along with playing for Cache Valley Elite and Grace, Stoddard is continually working on his game. “For the past couple years I have been working with Skylar Halford in Provo, Utah. He has helped me a lot with fundamentals and my mechanics. I try to workout with him as often as I can get to Provo. In between those times I work on drills he gives me.” Stoddard is also working on improving his defense. “I am trying to improve my speed and quickness to help me be a better defender. I want to be like Sam Merrill on USU who always guards the other teams best perimeter player. I really like playing tough defense and frustrating the guy I am guarding.” This should be a good summer for Stoddard and really help to prepare him for the future.