Hills-Beaver Creek High School graduate Steve Esselink completes a dunk during Midnight Madness in Williams Arena Oct. 12. Esselink will be a sophomore guard for the University of Minnesota's men's basketball team this winter. Although he started at the No. 2 guard position during the team's first exhibition game two weeks ago, Gopher Coach Dan Monson said Esselink will be the team's reserve shooting guard in 2001-02.
By John Rittenhouse
When talking from his dorm room on the University of Minnesota campus the night of Nov. 7, Steve Esselink admitted he was nervous about playing a basketball game the next night.
Considering Esselink is Hills-Beaver Creek High School's all-time leading scorer, it seemed strange he would be jumpy about playing in an exhibition game.
On the other hand, the 1999 H-BC graduate's apprehension about performing against the Harlem Globetrotters had a foundation.
Not only would it be his debut in Williams Arena as a member of the Golden Gopher men's basketball program, but Esselink learned earlier in the day that he would be the starting No. 2 guard (senior Treverous Bennett, the projected starter in the Gopher's two-guard slot this season, was nursing a knee injury at the time) in the exhibition opener.
"I can't tell you the date, but the last time I played in a game was in late February of 2000," Esselink recalled. "It was my last game with Augustana, at USD."
The Augustana- University of South Dakota tilt proved to be Esselink's final one as a freshman member of the Vikings program during the 1999-00 season.
A prize recruit landed by the college in Sioux Falls made a stunning decision shortly after that game played in Vermillion, S.D.
Rather than finish his four-year college career at the North Central Collegiate school less than 20 miles away from his family's farm by Hills, Esselink swapped the security of playing close to home to transfer to the U of M to follow a lifelong dream of playing basketball for the Gophers.
The exhibition game against the Globetrotters, a six-point performance that featured two-of-four shooting from the floor and a two-of-three effort at the charity stripe, was the start of Esselink's dreams coming true.
Although Bennett is expected to replace the former Patriot in Minnesota's starting five, Rock County fans of the Gophers can expect to see a lot of Esselink on the court during televised games.
"Steve's in our nine-player rotation," said Gopher coach Dan Monson, the day after the Nov. 8 exhibition game.
"He'll mostly play as a shooting guard, and he might get some playing time as a small forward. It will be a game-to-game thing with how many minutes he plays, but I foresee Steve playing in every game and becoming an integral part of what we are trying to do this year."
Getting the opportunity to play at all has Esselink fired up about the basketball season.
With NCAA rules requiring transfer student-athletes to be red-shirted for one full season, Esselink spent the last year and one-half practicing with the Gophers instead of playing in games.
"I've been doing a lot of practicing since then," Esselink said about his life at the U of M since arriving from Augustana. "Last year I practiced with the team every day. I was on the scout team in practice, and I played the role of the primary scorer for whatever team we happened to be playing at the time. I'm glad I got the opportunity to sit out a year after transferring. It was good preparation in helping me adjust to playing basketball at a higher level."
Practicing with a Division 1 basketball team is a challenge all by itself.
Esselink said small groups of players have been developing their skills under the coaching staff since school started in September. There were some two-a-day practice sessions when the season officially started with Midnight Madness on Oct. 12, but they have since given way to the normal practices (from 2 to 5 p.m. daily)."
Monson said Esselink handled his red-shirt season well.
"We're very happy with the progress Steve has made. I think that year off really helped him. He's a lot stronger and more mature now. It's very difficult for a kid to take a full year off. For most of them, it probably is the first year they have not played in basketball games since the third grade. Steve worked very hard last year. In practice he usually was guarded by one of our seniors (J.B. Bickerstaff), and Steve actually had some offensive success against him."
"I'm the type of coach who likes a kid who can put the ball into the basket, and Steve is the kind of guy who fits that profile," Monson continued. "If you know Steve, there are no questions about his offensive ability. You have to remember that he's only a sophomore in our program, and he needs more time to adjust to playing defense at this level, and to our system overall. We're really happy with the progress he has made so far."
Monson likes Esselink for what he can do offensively, and the player likes the coach for his philosophy.
"He's a really good guy to play for," Esselink said of the Gopher coach, who is entering this third season with the Minnesota program. "Coach likes to play an up-tempo, get-after-it style of basketball. I like to play that type of game."
Prognosticators are not picking the Gophers to win national or Big 10 championships this year, but Esselink and coach Monson do expect to field an improved team that should finish in the middle of the pack in a strong Big 10 Conference.
When Big 10 play begins in January, Esselink will fully realize his dream of playing big-time college basketball.
"They're giving me an opportunity to play, and I can't ask for more than that. I'm still trying to learn the system and trying to work hard in practice. It will be pretty exciting for me when we start playing Big 10 games. We'll be playing against guys like Frank Williams from Illinois, and a lot of other guys I've gotten to see on television before. IÕm still kind of in awe about all this, but it's going to be exciting," Esselink said.
Esselink and the coach are taking the one-game-at-a-time approach to the season. No team goals have been established, but a bid for a berth in the NCAA Tournament at season's end appears to be something both would like to realize.
"We definitely want to make it into the NCAA Tournament," Esselink said. "We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves right now. We have to concentrate on playing one game at a time and not worry about whatever comes along after that."
If the Gophers do make the NCAA's field of 64 teams for the post-season tournament known as March Madness, Rock County residents will be able to take pride in knowing that one of their own helped the University of Minnesota get there.
Men's Basketball
2001-2002 Schedule
Dec. 1: Texas-Pan American-Home
Dec. 4 North Carolina-Wilmington-Home
Dec. 7: Georgia - Away
Dec. 10: Oregon - Home
Dec. 13: Maryland-Eastern Shore - Home
Dec. 22: Nebraska - Home
Dec. 30: Texas Tech - Away
Jan. 2: Illinois - Away
Jan. 5: Michigan State - Home
Jan. 9: Michigan - Home
Jan. 12: Purdue - Away
Jan. 16: Wisconsin - Away
Jan. 19: Michigan - Away
Jan. 26: Ohio State - Home
Jan. 30: Penn State - Home
Feb. 2: Indiana - Home
Feb. 9: Iowa - Away
Feb. 13: Northwestern - Away
Feb. 16: Wisconsin - Home
Feb. 21: Michigan State - Away
Feb. 23: Penn State - Away
Feb. 27: Northwestern - Home
March 3: Illinois - Home
March 7: Big 10 Tournament - Indiana