By John RittenhouseFor being a college men’s basketball coach in Orange City, Iowa, Northwestern College’s Kris Korver spent a lot of time driving on southwestern Minnesota roads the past two winters.Korver is in charge of Northwestern’s Red Raider basketball team that currently is ranked No. 1 in the nation at the NAIA Division 2 level. He was interested in drawing three players from the Star Herald coverage area to his talent pool in Iowa.It meant a lot of long nights away from home for Korver and his coaching staff, but their recruiting efforts paid off as they added Ellsworth High School standout Curt Schilling and Hills-Beaver Creek High School stars Kale Wiertzema and Tyler Bush to their program."We came to watch Curt play a lot when he was a senior two years ago," Korver said."We saw Kale and Tyler play eight to 10 games last year, and I would guess we watched Curt play eight to 10 games the year before."Korver seeks certain kinds of individuals to be a part of his program, which has been one of the nation’s best in recent years.The Red Raiders have qualified for the Elite Eight (national tournament) seven straight years, and they won the last five GPAC (Great Plains Athletic Conference) titles.Korver says it’s that type of success that has earned his 2005-06 team the nation’s No. 1-ranking early in the season, but he downplays the attention because he knows basketball games are settled on the court, not on paper."It really doesn’t matter," Korver said of the ranking. "It doesn’t matter where you start, it matters where you finish. I think it’s (the ranking) a reflection of the tradition and the history of our program more than anything else."In Schilling, Wiertzema and Bush, Korver found some players he thought would be a good fit in his program."We like all three of them," he said."We like their character, we like how unselfish they are and we like their court vision. Those are traits we all enjoy."Schilling, a sophomore at NC, is coming off a solid freshman season.After coming off the bench as a reserve forward during the first half of a 29-4 season, Schilling earned a starting position based on his performance.Although he was bothered by a serious knee injury sustained during his senior season as a member of the H-BC-E football team, Schilling averaged 12 points per game for the Red Raiders last season.Korver said Schilling’s knee still is a problem this year, but the 2004 EHS graduate has been producing well coming off the bench for NC early this season."Curt is a fantastic basketball player. He’s a confident, determined young man who is playing well for us," Korver offered.Wiertzema and Bush are 2005 H-BC graduates who are freshmen getting adjusted to playing a higher level of basketball.Wiertzema, a guard, has made some contributions to the team as a reserve this year.The more Wiertzema adapts to playing the college game, the better off he’ll be in the future."Kale has been coming off the bench and doing a nice job for us," Korver stated."He does a lot of things well. He shoots and passes the ball well. Once he gets a little stronger, I think he’ll grow and develop into an outstanding basketball player."An ankle injury Bush sustained shortly after practice started has limited his ability to perform this year.The injury has kept Bush from logging any playing time this year, but Korver feels he has the capability to help the Red Raiders in the future."Tyler’s an incredible athlete with fantastic vision on the court," Korver said."If he keeps working at it, and if he continues to mature, in time, I think he can become a tremendous basketball player."If the local trio works hard and develops as Korver expects, Schilling, Wiertzema and Bush will make an impact on NC’s basketball program for the next few years.And, since they all came from the same area, don’t expect coach Korver to cross southwest Minnesota off his list of recruiting territories any time soon."It’s definitely been good to us," Korver said of our area. "Hopefully, we can continue to find these types of outstanding young men who can grow as players and leaders in years to come."
