MILL CREEK – Back when Drew Eisinger played youth basketball, kids on the other team always wanted to guard him.
The tall-for-his-age but decidedly thin Eisinger appeared frail and easy to push around. Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
“I looked like I (stunk) because I was a skinny kid,” said Eisinger, now a senior at Jackson High School.
However, those greatly mistaken youth-league opponents soon learned that although the skinny kid didn’t weigh much, he was a force. Even then the budding Eisinger frequently honed his skills, especially his smooth perimeter jump shot. Starting at age 10 he tracked his progress on a chart that listed the dozens and dozens of hours he put in each week.
It sure paid off.
Zip ahead to the 2005-2006 season. The still-lanky Eisinger (6-foot-4, 150 pounds) commanded constant attention from one and more often two defenders but still managed to lead the Western Conference South Division in scoring (19.7 points per game). He capped a remarkable season last week by increasing his production at the Class 4A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome, scoring 98 points in four contests (24.5 per game) to lead Jackson to a fifth-place trophy, the first state top-8 finish in program history.
Once an underestimated skinny kid, Eisinger scored from all over the court to help the Timberwolves bounce back from a 6-14 record in 2004-05 to a 24-5 mark this season. For that reason he is The Herald’s 2005-2006 All-Area Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
A four-year varsity player who started since his sophomore year, Eisinger always shot well from the perimeter, Jackson head coach Steve Johnson said. But the key this season was that the talented scorer became more adept at posting up, getting to the foul line, playing defense and leading teammates, said Johnson. Eisinger’s latter contribution proved crucial when Jackson made its inaugural 4A state-tourney appearance.
“He was everything,” Johnson said of Eisinger, who averaged 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. “In terms of senior leadership … Drew is pretty much the heart and soul of the team.”
One of just two seniors on the squad, Eisinger said he felt like a rookie last week at the Tacoma Dome, but he did his best to keep the Timberwolves focused and confident. After an 18-point first-round loss against highly regarded Curtis, Jackson beat District 1 champion Cascade, Kentwood (last year’s state runner-up), and Inglemoor (fifth in 2005).
Eisinger, who tallied 21 points or more in all four games at state and made the all-tournament first team, has received scholarship offers to play college hoops from a few Division II schools, but said he hopes to find a D-I opportunity.
One special moment for coach Johnson came after Jackson finished off Inglemoor to claim fifth at state. As the beaming Eisinger brothers posed for photos with classmates and adults, Johnson made sure his 7-year-old son, Hunter, stood next to Drew Eisinger for a picture. Eisinger, Johnson said, has become more like a family member than merely one of his basketball players.
The appreciation is mutual.
“I can see myself 15 years down the road (coming) back and hanging out with him,” Eisinger said of Johnson. “I couldn’t ask for a better coach.
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