Summer Snap Shot: Gage Stoddard (2021)
This past summer has been a busy one for Grace High Schools Gage Stoddard (2021) especially the month of July. “I wasn’t home much in July. I went to Las Vegas for two weeks, then to a camp at Snow…
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Continue ReadingThis past summer has been a busy one for Grace High Schools Gage Stoddard (2021) especially the month of July. “I wasn’t home much in July. I went to Las Vegas for two weeks, then to a camp at Snow College, then to Phoenix for a week. That was the highlight of my summer getting to participate in the NCAA Basketball Academy in Phoenix Arizona.” Stoddard was one of seven kids from Idaho, who had the opportunity to attend one of the sessions there. “The talent level there was amazing. It was fun to get to play with and against such talented players and to be in a college type environment.”
Gage Stoddard NCAA College Basketball Academy at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ. (Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos)Stoddard also had a busy summer playing with his AAU team Cache Valley Elite 16U. “We played in Portland, Boise, and Las Vegas this year. It was a lot of fun and we played some really good teams.” Stoddard also had the opportunity to play with UBC from Salt Lake City, Ut for one tournament in Las Vegas. “That was a fun experience, I got to meet some new people and play for Coach O’Donnell again so it made for a fun weekend.”
Through the month of June his high school team played at a couple of different tournaments. “The tournament I had the most fun at with my high school team was the one at Juan Diego High School in Salt Lake City. We were short a few players that weekend but we did good. We played some really good teams.” One of those good teams they played was Layton Christian Academy. At halftime Grace was down 20+ points. In the second half Stoddard started to make shots and ended the game with 48 points pulling Grace to within 4 points. “That game was a lot of fun. I just felt like I couldn’t miss.”
Even with his busy summer schedule Stoddard has continued to train and work on his game. ” I am still trying to improve my shooting and ball handling. I travel to Logan, Utah as often as I can to train with Jalen Moore from Next Level Basketball. Jalen is great to work with. He puts me through tough work outs and challenges me.”
Along with basketball, Stoddard is also the starting QB for the varsity football team again this year. “Playing football is fun. The physical part of the game helps me be tougher in basketball and not afraid of contact. Being the QB helps me to make decisions quick and read what the defense is doing which helps in basketball also.”
Stoddard is looking forward to this years high school basketball season. “Last year we missed making the state tournament by one game. I really want to get to state this year. We are returning all but 1 starter from last year so we have a good core group coming back.”