Editor's Note: Back by popular demand. Coming off another historic
season which featured the program's record-14th consecutive regular
season Horizon League championship, as always there is a lot of
anticipation for the next season in Green Bay women's basketball. Every
Thursday throughout the summer, Assistant Director
of Athletics Communications Jill Wunrow will sit down with one player to talk
about the expectations they have for themselves for the upcoming season and
what fans can expect to see from them individually. This week we catch up with the last of our junior class in Sam Zastrow.
Redshirt Junior, Sam
Zastrow (Algoma, Wis.), 5'5", G
As you enter your
junior campaign at Green Bay, what are you most looking forward to this season?
"With having a
different coach this season, it will be interesting to see and learn his style.
I'm also just looking forward to being with the girls every day. I know it's
the same girls I've been playing with the past few years but I like to see how
much everyone improves in the offseason. It's such an amazing feeling to see
everyone's hard work pay off."
What do you think is
the most valuable lesson you've learned throughout the past two years that you
carry with you every day at practice or games?
"The most valuable
lesson I've learned is to respect your teammates and yourself. Everyone makes
mistakes in practices and games and I'm always willing to help out where needed
if one of my teammates needs instruction. No one is perfect so we all need to
continue to work together on helping each other improve."
What do you need to
improve on the most in order to be the player you want to be in the 2012-13
season?
"My defense needs to
improve from moving my feet faster to guarding the ball and not always trying
to steal it and just focusing on defensive stops."
You have the honor of
playing for Coach Borseth this season and growing up in Algoma it's safe to
assume you've had the chance to see him coach during your prep career. What
have you seen from Coach Borseth so far that has been refreshing and unexpected
and how excited are you to have him at Green Bay?
"Coach Borseth has such
a great personality and is so approachable and easy to talk to. I remember
being a little kid when my dad and I were in Kohl's and we saw him and I was
completely star struck. My dad encouraged me to go talk to him, so I did and he
knew already who I was and where I was from. He's just so personable, which is
great."
Throughout your career
you averaged 4.5 minutes per contest. Do you accept the role of coming in
during the final minutes of a game and what are you doing during the offseason to
have your best season yet?
"I definitely do not accept the role, it's not fun,
especially when I work hard every day and do the same thing my teammates do. I
know I have to continue to improve and can't just expect to go to practice and
then play, I have to concentrate at getting better at the little things. I love
guarding Megan at practice because she's one of the best players I've ever
played against. I know that if I can guard her, I will be prepared to guard
anyone."
Over the past year
you've dropped a noticeable amount of weight. What brought you to the decision
to do so and what was your secret? What have you noticed with the
transformation?
"At first I didn't
really notice the weight I was putting on and just thought I was getting
stronger with muscle mass until one day my dad told me that I clearly had too
much weight on me. I just started to eat the right things and working out all
the time. I knew I couldn't have that much weight on me if I ever wanted to
play. I was slow, felt like I wasn't moving and couldn't get up and down the
floor. I certainly notice the difference now."
What can Phoenix fans
expect from Sam Zastrow this season?
"Fans can expect to see
hard work from me. No matter what happens, whether I play the four minutes at
the end of the game or I play longer, I'm going to work my hardest."
Having your dad who is
also a coach, how much do you confide in him for advice relating to your game
and how much do you work out with him during the summer, in the little time you
do have to go back to Algoma?
"Every time we see each
other we talk about basketball and what he thinks I need to improve on. We
won't be talking about anything basketball related but then he'll just randomly
bring something up like, 'you really need to work on your foot speed and you
really should jump rope, etc.', we are constantly talking about it. When I go
home during our break he'll workout with me every day, head to our high school
gym and shoot. In high school it was sometimes hard having him as a coach but
now I feel like we've both grown so much that it's a plus having him not only
as a dad but a coach."
Should you have any
free time during the summer months, what do you typically spend your day doing?
"Lying outside in the
sun or if I have a day off I like to go visit my niece and my sister in Door
County."
Favorite ice cream or
summer treat and why?
"Blue Moon ice cream.
At first I thought I would never try to eat something blue but once I tried it
I loved it right away."
