SLABY SIGNS OF LETTER OF INTENT

Troy Slaby has left a legacy of three career records and two season records with the Stoughton High School boys basketball program, and he’s ready to make a name for himself at the NCAA Division II level. The four-year varsity point guard for the Vikings signed his National Letter of Intent with Winona (Minn.) State University on April 12. The recruitment process was a stressful one for Slaby, though it didn’t show on the court. It started when he was a sophomore, he said, and he changed his mind several times. He thought about Bemidji (Minn.) State, Montana State-Billings, Indiana Tech, William Penn University, UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh. But Winona State was always near the top of his list. It starts by being close to home, just two-and-a-half hours from Stoughton and about a half-hour from his family cabin in La Crosse. On the court, the Warriors have two senior point guards graduating, which leaves the possibility of seeing playing time as a freshman. And after visiting the campus and meeting some of his future teammates, Slaby said he can already tell he is going to fit in. He moves into his dormitory Aug. 15, and already he is working on making the roster without redshirting. It continued to be stressful until he made it official. “When I made that decision, I was extremely relieved,” Slaby said. “When I signed my Letter of Intent the other day, there was a lot of excitement, and I am ready to get there and get things going.” Fitting in The transition to play in college at any division can be a challenge for some, but Slaby says he has an edge – having played for three different head coaches. Others might see that as a negative, but for him, adjusting to the systems of Matt Hockett (who now coaches at Minnesota-Duluth), Luke Wainwright and Nolan Weber in consecutive years has desensitized him to that scary part of the transition. Slaby embraced the changes and said he used it to add to both his basketball knowledge and his skillset. In addition to playing in both a fast-break transitional, high-scoring offense and a more grind-it-out half-court set, Slaby also had to learn to play man defense, help defense, zone defense and full-court pressure defense. “I got to see and play multiple ways, so I think that helps my versatility going into the next level,” he said. “I have been fitting into any style that schools were looking at me to play. I think it helped me out a lot.” Slaby is confident and preparing to work toward his goal of playing as a freshman, which is something that drew him to Winona State in the first place. Josh Mongan and Isaiah Gray are the two guards graduating from Winona State, and the team has only one junior and mostly sophomores and freshman filling out its roster. That leaves room for Slaby to be able to make the team and get experience on the floor right away. “They talked about how they loved the way I play, my toughness and skill,” Slaby said. “And with those two guards leaving, there is definitely some time to be taken up by incoming recruits. The possibility of me coming in and playing is something that I was really looking forward too.” At 6 feet and 170 pounds, he said he is considered a little undersized for a point guard. He plans on working on his catch-and-shoot ability to be able to space the floor by hitting open shots, and he also plans on getting faster and stronger. “I really want to work on getting into the weight room over the summer and work on my jumping ability and become more of an athlete,” he said. But Slaby isn’t going to set any goals about minutes or statistics. Instead, he said he is going to make the best of whatever situation he ends up at. Slaby said that as long as he remains smart with his decisions and works on taking care of the ball and making the right plays, he expects to earn his opportunity. “I just want to show the coaches that I can play, work as hard as I possibly can and play well in the role that is given to me and excel and keep getting better,” he said. Help from his friends Slaby didn’t end up in his position all by himself. Besides the coaches, he also had the opportunity to play on four winning teams with many teammates, who also made the leap to play athletics in college. Paul Rosowski is a kicker at UW. Adam Krumholz is a wide receiver for the Badger football team, and Luke Logan is a track and field athlete for UW-Eau Claire. But those are just a few of the Stoughton graduates Slaby played with who are now college athletes. One Slaby relates with the most is Nick McGlynn, who plays basketball for NCAA Division I Drake University. Slaby played with McGlynn as a freshman and sophomore and learned a lot about handling the recruiting process. “He taught me a lot. He told me to be patient and told me to just keep playing the game and not worrying about it,” Slaby said.

SLABY SIGNS OF LETTER OF INTENT

Photo Credit: Stoughton High Athletics

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