This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Cale Zuiker didn’t want to wait.
The Marshfield High School senior had no intentions to go into his final season as a Tiger without knowing where he was going to play college basketball. On Friday, the 6-foot-8 forward announced he will attend Division I Youngstown State in Youngstown, Ohio and play basketball for the Penguins in 2011-12.
“They were the first ones to offer me (a scholarship) in July after a week-long tournament in Louisville,” said Zuiker, who played on the Wisconsin Blaze AAU team. “They offered when I got home. It feels right. They play Division I and I enjoyed my visit there, like the coaching staff, I love the school. I think they are going to have a really good season this year and the next.”
Zuiker was the leading scorer for the Tigers last season, averaging 13 points a game. He was a unanimous first-team all-Wisconsin Valley Conference selection, leading the conference in 3-point percentage (46.7 percent) and finishing in the top five in scoring, and overall field goal percentage (56.4 percent).
Marshfield won its first WVC championship since 1992 and tied the school record with 18 wins before suffering a season-ending loss to Superior in the regional finals.
Zuiker tied a school record with seven 3-pointers in a win over Lakeland in the Tigers’ regular-season finale, scoring 29 points.
Zuiker will play for veteran coach Jerry Slocum, who enters his sixth season at Youngstown State. He has a career record of 610-384, which includes stints at Division II Gannon (Pa.) and NAIA schools Geneva (Pa.) and Nyack (N.Y.).
Youngstown State finished 8-22 last year and 2-16 in the Horizon League, but Zuiker said he likes the direction Slocum is taking the program.
Playing in the Horizon League will offer Zuiker the opportunity to play twice a year in Wisconsin – against Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and to play against powerhouse Butler, which made the Final Four last year. He said he is looking forward to playing some of his games close to home.
“It factored into it,” Zuiker said. “Obviously I’d love to come to Wisconsin and the Chicago area to play, to have my parents, family and friends come watch me.”
Zuiker said he also considered Columbia University in New York and Montana, as well as a number of Division II schools, but “Youngstown was just the right fit.”