'I love to score, so I'm happy': Athlete of the Week Jackson Eichler embraces new role
GARRETTSVILLE — Junior varsity basketball can be rather unpopular among juniors.
For some student-athletes, especially at a smaller school like Waterloo, there's an expectation that they are varsity-only by the time they enter their junior year.
Jackson Eichler, on the other hand, embraced playing JV minutes last year.
Eichler embraced the chance to play, period, knowing that varsity minutes could be tough to come by on a team that featured myriad talented seniors like Navarre Alhassan, Anthony Podojil and Ryan Wise.
"I was pretty happy," Eichler said. "Honestly, I got to play as much as I wanted to and it was great."
This season, Eichler is embracing a different kind of opportunity — the chance to star for the varsity Vikings.
In Waterloo's first game of the season, a close loss to Mogadore, the senior announced himself with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. In the Vikings' second game, Eichler lifted his team to a hard-fought victory at Garfield, scoring 20 of their 40 points, including four 3-pointers.
"He's a lights-out shooter when he gets going," Waterloo basketball coach Jason Wise said. "He's actually added a little off-the-dribble type game and he's a great free-throw shooter, so he's our leader. The kids kind of looked at him when things are going bad and he kind of takes care of us."
Jackson Eichler's strong senior year started on the golf course
The Year of Eichler actually began long before the Waterloo senior started draining 3-pointers in Garfield and Mogadore's gymnasiums.
After all, golf is his top sport.
"I love golf," Eichler said. "I honestly love it more than basketball. It's so fun to me."
Eichler capped his high school golf career this fall by earning first team all-Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference honors with his top-five finish at this year's league tournament, then advanced to the district tournament for the first time. Per Vikings golf coach Matt Flanagan, Eichler's excellence really began with an intensified commitment to the game following his sophomore season.
"After his sophomore year, Jackson made the decision that he was going to play in more summer tournaments and he wanted to fill that number one spot in our lineup," Flanagan said. "Just putting in that work at the range, getting a job at the golf course, he was in and around the game as much as he could be."
The results were striking.
From his sophomore to senior season, Eichler lowered his 9-hole average by more than seven strokes to 39.4.
Perhaps more than anything, Eichler worked on his putting, turning a weakness into a strength, and also developed a superior mental game. For many golfers, the mental game is what keeps strong showings on the driving range from turning into similar success on the course. Not Eichler as Flanagan said he "never had to worry" about the senior losing his cool.
"If I hit a bad shot, I'm not really mad about it," Eichler said. "I just focus on the next one I have to hit and go from there."
As a senior, Eichler stood out with his confident approach. While at practice, Eichler would tell Flanagan what he hoped to do with a shot, including some rather challenging concepts, and then go out and execute with ease.
"He put in so much work at the range to be able to make those shots an every day part of his game," Flanagan said. "I don't know if I've had another player in my 10 or 11 years that I've been doing this who would have as much confidence in their swing as he does."
Jackson Eichler's poise pays off on the hardwood
On the surface, golf and basketball have little in common.
One's an indoor sport. One is outdoor.
One's a team sport. One is often labeled as an individual one.
One involves a bunch of physical contact. The other doesn't.
Still, the poise that Eichler developed as a golfer has also paid off handsomely on the basketball court.
As Waterloo's injuries mounted throughout the 2022-2023 season and Eichler found himself inserted into the varsity starting lineup for a few games, he didn't blink.
"[He] had some big games where he hit three, four 3s for us," Wise said. "Especially in the tournament, he had a couple of big games for us, so he kind of knew coming in what was expected of him and he really worked on his game and added some things to get him to the level he's at right now."
Asked to star for the varsity as a senior, Eichler hasn't blinked.
"I don't really mind," Eichler said of his new role as the Vikings' lead scorer. "I love to score, so I'm happy with it."
He's only smiled — and excelled.
"He knew coming into this year that he had an opportunity to be a really, really good player," Wise said. "He stuck with it, he worked his tail off and here we are."
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Athlete of the Week Jackson Eichler a new star for Waterloo basketball
