The Metro area is loaded with super-talented basketball players this season with guys like Jarrod Uthoff, Marcus Paige, Josh Oglesby, Matt Bohannon and Wes Washpun.
Don’t forget Kasey Semler.
Semler averaged 16 points for the Marion Indians last season and spent two summers with the Iowa Barnstormers, an elite AAU basketball team that included the likes of Uthoff, Oglesby and Washpun.
Semler doesn’t get the same publicity as the other Metro stars, and he might not get a scholarship to play Division I basketball like those other guys, but he deserves to be considered when you’re picking an all-Metro team.
“I don’t really think about it too much,” Semler said. “I just try to go out there and do my best, and not worry about what other people are doing or what other people are talking about.”
Semler, a 6-foot point guard, showed he belonged in the same conversation by performing well with the Barnstormers against some of the top competition in the country, including a second-place finish at a prestigious 48-team tournament in Las Vegas.
If you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best.
“I’m really glad that I did it,” Semler said. “Everybody welcomed me with open arms and brought me in. We had a lot of fun together.
“You can’t go wrong, going out and playing that kind of competition,” he said. “You’ve really got to be aware, because you’ve got passes flying at you left and right. You have to be aware at all times.”
Marion is a Class 3A school that competes in the Wamac Conference, so he doesn’t get a chance to play against his Class 4A buddies who compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference on a regular basis.
Marion Coach Mike Manderscheid is delighted to have him. “He’s a kid who’s going to do what you want him to do,” Manderscheid remarked.
Manderscheid said Semler will lead the team at point guard, play hard and hit 3-pointers. He’s added 7 or 8 pounds of muscle this season, putting him at 182 pounds.
“I feel a lot stronger. And quicker,” he said.
Semler has basketball offers from Wayne State, Mount Mercy and Briar Cliff, but hopes to get more offers and is not ready to make a decision. He’s also an outstanding baseball player and might want to play both sports in college.
Manderscheid, in his third year as head coach, fashioned a 39-9 record in his first two years with the Indians. They went 20-5 and made the state tournament in 2009, then finished 19-4 last season but missed making it to Des Moines.
“People didn’t think we were going to be real good last year,” Semler said. “I kind of knew that we could surprise some people. It was fun to have that good of a year.”
Not making the state tournament was a bummer, however.
“That was the biggest disappointment,” Semler said. “My sophomore year we got to state, and I knew what that felt like. It was weird not going back.
“That’s our goal right now. That’s our goal every year.”
Marion graduated Hunter Sade (12.9 points), Corey Kramer (10.7) and Dalton Combs (4.7) from last year’s club, but returns three of the top scorers with Semler (16.0), Dusty Albaugh (7.4) and Tyler Fisher (4.3).
Marion opens the season at Solon on Nov. 30.
“We feel pretty good,” Manderscheid said, “but we know there’s a lot of work to be done. We’re a work in progress.”
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ROSTER
Seniors (7)
Dusty Albaugh (6-0), Tyler Fisher (6-1), Tre Kinney (6-0), Dylan Cronk (6-1), Kasey Semler (6-0), Dan Van Gorp (6-3), Austin Hardman (6-4).
Juniors (7)
Cale Cannoy (5-10), Mitch Wagner (5-7), Jared Hundorf (6-4), Mark Stone (5-11), Josh Davila (6-0), Tyler Hedtke (6-3), Jake McDonald (5-11).
Sophomores (1)
Isaac Frazier (6-4).
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Nov. 30 — at Solon, 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 3 — Anamosa, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 7 — at Clear Creek-Amana, 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 10 — Vinton-Shellsburg, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 11 – Jefferson, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 14 — Williamsburg, 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 17 — Independence, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 4 — at Center Point-Urbana, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 7 — at Benton Community, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 11 – Waterloo Columbus, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 14 — at Vinton-Shellsburg, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 18 — Clear Creek-Amana, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 21 — at Mount Vernon, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 22 — at Mount Pleasant, 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 25 — at Independence, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 28 — at Williamsburg, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 1 — Center Point-Urbana, 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 4 — at Waterloo Columbus, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 8 — Benton Community, 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 11 — Dyersville Beckman, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 15 — Maquoketa, 6 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 21 — Districts, 7 p.m.
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