If you watch DC Everest boys basketball it's nearly impossible to miss 6 foot 8 senior Jared Gjertson. Averaging almost 14 points a game, Gjertson is one of the main contributors to the Evergreens success this season. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he's been on the court his entire life, but that's not the case. Gjertson says, "I didn't start playing basketball until I was in seventh grade and even then I didn't really get into it until about ninth grade."
It took some time and effort before Merton could actually consider himself a basketball player. Coach Cory Heckel has a pretty good reason for why he brought Gjertson up to the varsity squad, even though he may not have been good enough just yet. The Coach explains, "We knew that he had a big gap to close with skill and knowledge of the game. We went on the premise that we have a good sized athlete and then a kid that has a great work ethic; can we mold him into something that we want him to be?"
Now, Coach Heckel can barely take Gjertson off the floor, which speaks volumes about how far he's came since 7th grade. Gjertson says he wants to play at the next level but hasn't chose a school quite yet. He plans to major in math with a minor in coaching, so he can one day return to DC Everest to coach.
