6C
THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAS
BASKETBALL PREVIEW
THURSDAY NOVERMER 2. 2006
Jeff Boschee trades NBA spotlight for high school gym
BY IAN STANFORD
Clad in his old Jayhawk basketball shorts and a crimson shirt, Jeff Boschee stood alone at the top of the three-point key.
His placid eyes locked in on the basket, his face void of emotion, the former layhawk phenom has, as exKU assistant coach Ben Miller puts it, "ice in his veins." In what looked like one fluid motion, his feet set, his knees contracted, his toes pushed off, his arms raised and his wrist propelled the ball through the hoop, all in a little more than a second. Boschee is a graceful machine.
"And this is where I made my game-winner against Colorado and Iowa State," he said, as he pulled up at the left elbow and drained another.
"That's where I made my first three and my record-breaking one," Boschee said, as he pointed to the left baseline corner as he pauses, slowly circling the three-point arch.
Three, four, five in a row; a small crowd of his high school basketball players gathered to watch the Big 12
all-time three-point record holder practice his three ball.
Former KU basketball player Jeff Boschee sits at his desk in the basketball office at Blue Valley Northwest, where he is an assistant coach. "I coach by simulating a real game situation," he said.
It had been more than four years removed from a meaningful game of basketball, but the 6-foot-1 Boschee claimed to be a better shooter, more conditioned and a better overall player now than he ever was in a Jayhawk uniform.
Photos by Kevin Grunwald
But since settling into the Kansas City area roughly a year ago, the only playing time that Boschee has been getting is through pick-up games at 24-Hour Fitness and during scrim-mages of the Blue Valley Northwest varsity basketball team, for which he is an assistant coach.
Boschee is still living the basketball life, though not the one he expected to be living at age 26.
"I expected to go to the NBA and become a spot shooter like Steve Kerr, or at the very least play in a European league with a big contract," Bosche said as he leaned back in coach Ed Fritz's desk chair, which he borrows when the coach is not around.
Behind him, instead of his
"I'm not very important around here." he said.
McDonald's All-American plaque prominently displayed on the wall, are Fritz's family photos and old Huskie composites. In the opposite corner, a football coach reviewed film from the previous night's game. A moldy smell from the adjacent locker room pervaded into the small, multi-purpose office.
Jeff Boschese helps Dillon Cortez, an eighth grader, with his technique during his one-a-week private basketball lessons. He runs his lessons at Blue Valley Northwest, and helps coach the team.
'Biggest regret of my life'
After the Jayhawk's 2001-2002 season ended, Boschee had momentum. His senior year ended with a loss in the Final Four to Maryland, the eventual champions. In the game, Boschee hit threes down the stretch to try to get the 'Hawks back in. "We all felt he had a chance to play in the NBA or overseas," Miller said.
"I just felt burn out from playing," Bosche said. "I missed being a normal college kid."
But after his senior season, Boschee decided that he would take a break from basketball and go back to school to finish his sports management degree.
Boschee's hiatus led him to turn down an invitation to attend the Portsmouth Invitational, a pre-draft camp for college seniors. He recalled previous coach Roy Williams explaining that it would be hard to go to the NBA after time off, but Boschee shrugged off the advice.
Cortez, an eighth grader, is a student in the Jeff Boschee Basketball Academy, under which Boschee gives private and semi-private basketball instruction to players of all ages and levels for some supplemental income when he's not busy coaching the Huskies.
By the time Williams came to him with another camp invitation, Boschee had not played in a month and a half. The first shot that the Big 12 all-time three-point record holder took after deciding to reconsider his choice was an air ball. His chances were shot.
Back on the court, Dylan Cortez awaited Bosche's command.
"It's the biggest regret of my life," he said.
After several brief stints in semi-pro American and pro European leagues, Boschee's playing career ended in fall 2005.
'Step into your shot'
With a simple "go" from Boschee, Cortez back peddled baseline to left elbow, sprinted across the free throw line, around a cone, took two steps before catching the ball in stride and immediately pulled up for an eight-foot jumper.
"Step into your shot," coach Boschee said.
A brick off the back iron.
The 13-year-old year old skinny point guard returned to the baseline and does a few more reps.
"Good," Boschee said, signifying the drill's completion. "Now make five."
Cortez needed no further explanation. He walked to the free throw line and started shooting free throws, lavishing the short reprieve before the next drill in the non-stop, hour-long workout.
Boschee works his players hard.
"I coach by simulating a real game situation," he said. "As a player, you've got to be able to make shots
at the end of the game when you're tired."
Boschee never had a problem with that.
"I thought he would make every shot he took," wrote Williams in an e-mail. "The time or score of the game never mattered to him. Nothing rattled him, he had such great poise."
Despite only being able to use that poise on the sideline, Boschee considers himself "90 percent content" with what he's doing today.
For now, Boschee wants to focus on coaching; this year, the Husky offense. Next year, Boschee hopes to get a job as an assistant on the University level and start working his way up the coaching ranks. Ultimately, he wants to lead a Division I program.
He doesn't plan on burning out this time.
Kansan correspondent lan Stanford can be contacted at editor@ kansan.com.
- Edited by Jacky Carter
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