Photo Courtesy of Star Tribune.
Gabe Kalscheur, a 6-foot-2, 189-pound junior guard from Minneapolis (MN) DeLaSalle, is considered one of the top players in the Minnesota Class of 2018. Kalscheur received a scholarship offer from Minnesota last summer.
Kalscheur averaged 18.1 points per game as junior for the Islanders, who finished 27-3, winning a state record sixth straight championship. He scored in double figures in all but one games, including a season-best 30 points versus Fridley. He shined in the postseason, averaging 19.5 points in the section playoffs and 20.3 points in the state tournament, including 20 points in the state tournament championship 72-44 win over Austin.
Kalscheur scored 27 points to lead DeLaSalle to a 79-56 victory over Fergus Falls in the 3A title game in 2016 to become the first boy’s team in Minnesota history to win five straight state championships.
Kalscheur recently caught up with Gopher Hole to talk about the latest on his recruitment, summer plans and upcoming senior season.
Gopher Hole: You guys are off to a great start AAU-wise. How pleased are you with how well you guys are playing?
Gabe Kalscheur: Really pleased. We just came out strong and we are going to finish strong. The goal is to go to Peach Jam and win it.
Gopher Hole: You have some guys back from last year like yourself, Daniel Oturu and Tre Jones, but you added a couple of new pieces like Jarvis Thomas, who seems to have played really well with you guys. How hard has it been to get that chemistry going?
Gabe Kalscheur: Not that hard. The first game was a little struggle because it was our first time playing, actually. I think is why we lost our first game, but after that, we have been coasting.
Gopher Hole: How about your own individual play? How pleased are you with how well you have been playing?
Gabe Kalscheur: I have been very pleased. I have been shooting the ball very well. I have been playing at a high level and it has been an honor.
Gopher Hole: I think that you had one game where you had 32 points and were seven of eight from three-point range. Were you feeling it that day?
Gabe Kalscheur: Yes, I was. I hit my first two in a row and then I was feeling it and Tre (Jones) kept giving me the ball and everyone kept giving the ball. It was all good.
Gopher Hole: Was that a game that coaches were allowed to be at?
Gabe Kalscheur: Yes.
Gopher Hole: I think that you picked up a couple of new offers from Pittsburgh and Bowling Green. You are up to five. What other schools are you hearing from besides the schools that have offered you now?
Gabe Kalscheur: I have been hearing a little bit from Colorado.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about trying to make some visits at all?
Gabe Kalscheur: I am going to try to talk to my parents about visiting in the summer, like June when we are off.
Gopher Hole: Have you even thought, I know that it is still a ways away, about when you would even try to decide on a school? Would you try to sign in the fall or have you even thought that far yet?
Gabe Kalscheur: I said that I am going to commit after AAU, like before school starts.
Gopher Hole: What are going to be the main factors that make you pick School A over School B or C?
Gabe Kalscheur: If it feels like home, because DeLaSalle feels like home to me and I want some place that wants me for me and my personality and my game and will use me to get me to the next level in the NBA or overseas, wherever that gets me. .
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you guys have won six straight titles, but you are going to have a different look without coach Thorson. What is that going to be like?
Gabe Kalscheur: It is going to be different. It is going to be new. That could be a good thing and a bad thing, but hopefully, it is a good thing.
Gopher Hole: What has he meant to you as a coach?
Gabe Kalscheur: He’s meant a lot. He has been a figure to resemble on and off the court. Not the yellingness, but how to talk verbally on and off the court.
Gopher Hole: He has been a college coach and now he is going back into college. Do you that has helped you since he knows what it takes to play at that level?
Gabe Kalscheur: Exactly. Defense is a big part of playing at a high level in college and also maybe starting your freshman year, so I think that I am set for defense.
Gopher Hole: Are you going to any college or individual camps this summer?
Gabe Kalscheur: Hopefully, I can make it to one of the basketball academies (on the Nike circuit). So hopefully, I can make it to that.
Gopher Hole: How about your team? Are you playing in anything for DeLaSalle?
Gabe Kalscheur: I don’t know if we’ll do a team camp, because we don’t have a coach yet (DeLaSalle hired former player Travis Bledsoe as their new head coach four days after this interview).
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you are going to be the favorite again to win another title. What would it mean to win a title every year that you played?
Gabe Kalscheur: It would mean a lot because people have done it before me and I want to be in that line to do it again. This one will be different because Thorson wouldn’t be there, so it will be like my state championship. .
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the homestate school. I know that you are close to Ben Johnson because he is a DeLaSalle guy. What are the Gophers saying to you?
Gabe Kalscheur: They want me to come down and visit the new facility that is being upgraded. I think that I am going to do that soon.