ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: ROSS CONNER

Ross Conner

School: Cape Central

Sport: Basketball

Coach: Brett Reutzel

Week Report: Conner, an athletic 6-foot-5 post player, recorded three double-doubles last week as the Tigers went 2-1 with wins over Notre Dame and Riverview Gardens and a loss to DeSmet, the defending Class 4A state champions. Conner scored 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds against Notre Dame, which had beaten Central twice earlier this year. Against DeSmet, he scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and against Riverview Gardens he posted 14 points and a remarkable 21 rebounds.

Season Report: Conner, who has been a dominant post player each of the last two seasons, is averaging 15.4 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks per game. Conner is drawing some interest from NAIA and junior colleges.

Coach's comments: "He's sort of the unspoken leader," said Reutzel. "He's not a real vocal young man, but he leads by example. You couldn't ask for a finer student-athlete. He's great in the classroom. His priorities are not at all screwed up. I would like to see him play some place, but he may decide to just go to a Division I school and study. I think if he goes juco, I think he could be a D-I or D-II player. He's the type of young man, that you know he'll be a success at whatever he decides to do. He has a good balance of his priorities. He's always smiling and he's comfortable in all sorts of situations because he's such a good-natured young man. He's someone his parents and everybody can be proud of."