Windler sustains run

Posted: March 30, 2009 |(0) Comments

South Milwaukee has a nice little run going. A year after Andy Smith earned a second consecutive spot on the CNI All-Suburban Boys Basketball Team, Andrew Windler made it three in a row for the Rockets.

You can make a case Windler had the more difficult road. Smith, on scholarship at the University of Texas-Pan American, had fellow Division-I athlete Trey McKinney-Jones (Missouri-Kansas City) as his running mate and Windler as still another associate.

The 6-foot-9-inch Windler was often the lone ranger on a team that struggled to for coach John Riggins. But like Smith and McKinney-Jones, Windler had a work ethic that paid dividends.

Windler, an all-Southeast Conference first-team pick, will be a walk-on with the basketball team at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., next season and receive a scholarship as a sophomore.

"Andy Smith, Trey and now Andrew, they put the time in," Riggins said. "In the spring and summer, (Windler) was a guy all last spring, when the season ended and every day in the summer, he was in the gym. We worked on his shot every day. He dribbled every day.

"The reason why he shoots 44 percent from beyond the arch and is a multidimensional scorer is that he worked at his game every single day in the offseason, and I think he learned at lot of those work ethics from Andy and Trey. Andy and Trey got those Division-I deals last year, and I think that was a really big motivation for Andrew."

Windler's road was a long one.

"After my sophomore year, I was on jayvee," Windler said. "I'm not one of those guys who's been on varsity since my freshman year. I wasn't the strongest kid. I was always kind of long and lanky, which I am now.

"After my sophomore year, I just decided to be better, work on my game in the summer. I made leaps and bounds going into my junior year, and I did the same thing going into this year.

"I saw great improvements every year. I'm going to do the same again this year, and then hopefully next year, I'll be that much better. Then once I get down there, hopefully I'll get better real quick with the coaches and the staff down there."

Windler, a National Honor Society student, will settle in to collegiate academic life before declaring a major.

"I'm thinking maybe something in sports psychology, or journalism," said Windler, who will report to Samford in mid to late August. "But honestly, I have no idea yet."

McKinney-Jones recently was in South Milwaukee for spring break. He had some advice for Windler regarding the rigors of college basketball.

"I was asking, 'How was the season?'" Windler said. "He's like, 'Man it's long, and everyone seems to get injured at some point or another.' I just kind of laughed it off. It is true. It wears on you.

"So what I'm trying to do is get stronger, get my shot better, get my game better. I'm going to do what I can without playing AAU this year, because I'm not going to do that this summer.

"I'll just get my repetitions in, get stronger in the weightroom and just see what happens when I get down there."

 

Jerry Karpowicz can be reached at (262) 446-6628. Read his blog at SouthMilwaukeeNOW.com.

All-Suburban Annals

South Milwaukee's CNI All-Suburban Boys Basketball selections

1993-94: Jake Browarski

1993-94: Sonnie Wilbert

1994-95: Dan Luczywko

1995-96: Dan Luczywko*

2006-07: Andy Smith

2007-08: Andy Smith

2008-09: Andrew Windler

* Player of the Year