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Harding sophomore Culver dealing with growing expectations
Harding sophomore
Culver dealing with growing expectations
WARREN
Derek Culver showed up to Warren Harding High School last Friday sporting a black and white mesh shirt featuring the faces of characters from the television show “Seinfeld.”
It’s difficult enough for the 6-foot-9 high school sophomore to blend in without 90s sitcom shirts. But this was a special instance in honor of his basketball coach, Andy Vlajkovich.
“I forget what website I got it off of,” Culver said of the shirt.
“But I know he’s a ‘Seinfeld’ guy, so I was like, all right, I’ll wear it just to see if I can get any chuckles out of him.”
Mission accomplished.
Vlajkovich approved of his power forward’s wardrobe choice, even if it was only for his benefit.
“I like ‘Seinfeld,’ ” Culver admitted. “I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m a big fan, but I wore it just to see the looks I get.”
Culver doesn’t need to wear outlandish — albeit funny — outfits to get looks. He’s getting plenty from Division I college basketball programs already. The 16-year-old is trying to get used to that.
Basketball wasn’t Culver’s first love. Like many kids growing up in northeast Ohio, it was football. Then he didn’t stop growing. Culver was 5-foot-10 at the age of 9. Naturally, he excelled on the basketball court.
“My mom and dad put me in a YMCA league and I got the MVP of the league,” he said. “After that, it started to click for me and every year I played basketball because I was the tall one.”
He was nearly 6-foot-4 in eighth grade, but his biggest growth spurt was yet to come. When he arrived at Harding High School for his freshman year, Culver was 6-foot-8 — growing more than four inches over the summer.
But in basketball terms, he was still very raw.
“When he was in eighth grade, he was big, but he had a long way to go,” said Vlajkovich, who is in his third year as head coach of the Raiders.
“He was always a good ballhandler, even though he’s bigger, and he always had tools. Now we’re getting size with the tools and then he figured out how to play hard.”
In limited action last season, Culver averaged five points and six rebounds per game. This season, the power forward is up to a double-double, averaging 15 points and 10 boards. His Raiders are also 11-2 and a perfect 8-0 in their first season as a member of the All-American Conference.
Although it hasn’t only been Culver. All five starters average in double figures as the Raiders prepare for a tough test against conference foe Poland tonight.
According to Culver, the preparation began long ago.
“When you build team chemistry, it doesn’t come during the games,” he said. “It comes over the summer when you’re at camps and workouts in the weight room.
“That’s when you really make a bond, because you see that they’re there every day in the hot summer sun, running lines, doing this and that. That’s when you really bond with your teammates — when you’re tired and exhausted.”
Being able to make those summer workouts with his teammates is about to get a lot more difficult for Culver. He plays for Ohio Basketball Club, which is an Adidas-sponsored AAU team. The highly-rated 2017 prospect has already been to a few sponsored camps and Vlajkovich believes plenty more invites are on the way.
“He’s on a plane more than I am in a year,” his coach said. “In the spring, he’ll go to Orlando, Dallas and he’ll be in Vegas later in the summer. He travels better than we do.”
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was the first college coach to visit Culver last October. The sophomore made a trip to Morgantown on Jan. 10 to take in a Mountaineers home game. This is only the beginning of his recruitment, but it’s a process Culver still tends to shy away from.
“I’m kinda not used to it, but I have no choice but to get used to it,” he said of the attention.
“I have to go with the flow. I understand some things, but still getting used to others. I’m not fully there yet, but I’ll be all right.”
Vlajkovich says he’s trying to help Culver with it all, but eventually he wants his player to be comfortable enough to where he can make a decision on his own.
“We have a very close relationship and I think he trusts me with the college coaches, with the AAU coaches, with the camp people,” Vlajkovich said. “But he’s not used to all the attention and it can be a lot for a young kid, especially in the big business that is college basketball.”
Although college is a ways away, the attention and pressure is only going to intensify. He already has profiles on every major recruiting service, in addition to one NBA Draft website.
“I’m not really a flashy type of guy,” Culver said. “I’d rather hang home with friends, family and relax, watch TV, play video games.
“I’m outgoing, but if I have some down time I take advantage of it.”
Soon, even a Seinfeld shirt might not be able to hide Culver from expectations.