Hawks' Marvin seeking new vistas playing for Bison team
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BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Jake Marvin almost always has an unobstructed view, wherever he is.
But for the 6-foot-7 Lincoln Southwest senior-to-be, one of the best things about playing on the Bison-Nebraska basketball team this summer will be slightly worse sight lines.
“For me, it’s good to play against people who are taller than me,” Marvin said. “There are not very many people I go against in Nebraska during the high school season who are bigger than me.
“I have to work on using more quickness and getting around people instead of just turning and shooting over them. It’s a little tougher to get your shots off against taller players.”
Marvin and the rest of his teammates on the Bison-Nebraska Red team will get plenty of experience this summer, starting this week in the Alegent Health tournament at Nebraska-Omaha. Other tournaments the team will play in are the Hoosier Shootout in Indianapolis, Kentucky Hoopfest in Louisville, Ky., Reebok Champions in Las Vegas and the Best of Summer in Los Angeles.
“Getting to play against players who are a lot higher level than we are used to in the winter is another big thing,” Marvin said.
Joining Marvin on the team are Lincolnites Taylor Price of Southeast, Drew Sankey of Lincoln East and Pete Uhing of Lincoln High. The team is coached by Kevin Scheef of Wahoo, with Rick Hook of Millard West assisting.
“I think each of our kids has a niche for us and they bring different things to the table,” Scheef said. “I think we have a nice variety of players who can do different things. We have versatile kids, so they’re not stuck at one spot. We have kids who can play two or three positions. We can mix and match.
“In the summer, you have a lot of different mismatches out there, you can’t scout, there are injuries and playing three games in a day. You have to be able to put different pieces together, and I think we have those pieces.”
Others on the Red team are Dane Bacon of Kearney, Steville Burns of Omaha Benson, Kyle Iske of Millard West, Trent Miller of Gretna and brothers Greg and Dwight Smith of Ralston.
“Kyle Liske is strong and tough in the post. Greg Smith is a phenomenal athlete and can do a lot of things,” Scheef said. “And Jake Marvin is an example of versatility. He can do a lot of different things. He’s got great length, but he can shoot well from the outside.”
Functioning as a team is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles for a summer all-star team. The nature of the beast is that players may be thrust into different roles than they play on their high school team.
And that’s exactly what makes it fun, according to Uhing.
“You have a different role, but you still have to play as a team. We have a lot of good players, so we have to make the extra pass to get the open guy,” Uhing said. “We’re all trying to see what it’s like at a higher level; so if we want to take the next step in basketball, this is a good experience.”
Marvin said practice and spending time together has allowed the Reds to become a team.
“I played with some of these guys last year, but normally I’m playing against them,” Marvin said. “Having guarded them, you know their playing styles. We’re having fun together.
“You just have to let it happen. The more times we practice, the more we think of ourselves as a team. We learn more about each other.”
And that should provide greater chances for success in summer tournaments.
“We won’t be trying to force something or just one person. We’ll use what we worked on as a team to make it work,” Marvin said. “We’re playing really unselfishly so far, so we’re working at making it a team game.”
Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.
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