- Joined
- Nov 3, 2008
- Messages
- 5,106
- Reaction score
- 1,259
- Points
- 113
Q&A: 7-2 Big Man Adam Trapp Talks Recruiting, Gophers and More
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/755586?referrer_id=
Adam Trapp, a 7-foot-2 junior center from Esko (MN) High, is one of the top big men in the Midwest in the Class of 2018 and is considered the number five prospect in the in-state class.
Trapp averaged 3.8 blocked shots per game as a sophomore for the Eskomos, leading them to a 27-4 record, including a 52-40 loss to Annandale in the first round of the Class AA boys' basketball state Tournament. They allowed just 40 points per game in the regular season and outscored their opposition by 26.3 points per game. He was held to three points and three rebounds in the loss. It was the fourth straight state tournament appearance.
Trapp is taking a bigger role this season with the loss of Jaxson Turner, an all-around athlete who plays football at North Dakota this fall.
Trapp comes from an athletic family. His sister, 6-foot-9 Savanna, signed with UCLA, out of high school and Molly is a 6-foot-6 volleyball player, who played at Wisconsin-Superior last season.
Gopher Hole caught up with Trapp recently to talk about the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: You have played a tough non-conference schedule like Caledonia, who is ranked #2 in Class AA in the Tip-Off Classic. Do you like playing those tough games to get you ready for conference play and hopefully the postseason as well?
Adam Trapp: Yes. I really like playing tough games like that because it really brings out the worst in us in what we need to work on and like our coach always says, if you want to be the best, you have to play the best, so we saw what we really need to work on and there is a lot of things that our whole team can work on. I think that later down the line, we are going to be fixing those things and we can be a tough team to beat. .
Gopher Hole: Because you are the big guy, teams are going to try to push you around and double and triple team you and be physical with you. Does that ever get tiring or frustrating for you?
Adam Trapp: I wouldn't say too much frustrating. It gets a little annoying when it gets out of hand. I can handle it up to a certain point, but when it gets out of hand, it's just not playing basketball anymore, then it kind of gets to me a little bit, because if you could really play basketball, if you are on a good team, you shouldn't have to play that way, if you are a good basketball player. I play through it most of the time and that is what you've got to do anyways and play through it. .
Gopher Hole: I know that you are continuing improve all the time as a player. What things have you been working on lately to continue to improve yourself?
Adam Trapp: I've been working on a lot. Just being a lot stronger, which I have been a little in these past five games that we have played in the season so far and finishing. I tend to finish a little better than I did last year and the year before that. Just stepping up into a new role that I have on the team right now because now I am kind of in a leadership role on our team and have to get it going for our guys, so I have been working on just being a leader and working on the inside game and still play the defense that I have in the past.
Gopher Hole: Now you are an upperclassmen. You are a junior. Does it feel any different being a junior now?
Adam Trapp: It doesn't really feel much different. It's just like I said, you just have to adept to those new roles, so it is different in that sense, but I don't feel too much different. I still feel like it is my first day at practice every day. My first game. I get nervous before every game. It is just that new role that you are stepping into.
Gopher Hole: Do you like being a little bit more of a leader now that you are that upperclassmen?
Adam Trapp: Yes. I like being a leader because I like seeing people who are coming up that we can instruct ourselves in practice and push in practice and I really think coming up even after next year. I think that we are going to be amazing and the year after that, I think that our program is still going to be very, very strong, so I think that it is really cool to see those people that are below you now when you were the below person at one point.
Gopher Hole: Have you had a chance to go to any college basketball games yet this season?
Adam Trapp: Not yet. Not since a long, long time ago. I haven't really done anything since that.
Gopher Hole: When you watch college basketball or pro basketball at home on TV, are there certain players that you kind of look at or try to emulate and learn from?
Adam Trapp: Honestly, I don't watch too much college basketball. The only game that I have watched this year was Creighton versus Wisconsin. I was doing homework and turned that on in the background. I don't watch TV too much.
Gopher Hole: Do you watch pro games even?
Adam Trapp: No, Not really. I'm not super into TV.
Gopher Hole: Do you have a favorite player at all?
Adam Trapp: I've always, since I was little, like Dirk Nowitzki. He was just kind of a cool player. I sometimes watched him when they won the Finals. I can't remember what year it was. I watched him play and I liked to play off of him a little bit when I was younger. My coach told me to stop fading away, so then I got to stop doing that.
Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now?
Adam Trapp: Three still. (Purdue, DePaul and Iowa)
Gopher Hole: What other schools are you hearing from besides those three?
Adam Trapp: Thinking, just off the top of my head, I hear from Creighton quite a bit, Wisconsin still, Minnesota, Stanford, Elon and I know that there is quite a bit more, I just can't really think off the top of my head. .
Gopher Hole: I know the Gophers saw you play recently. What are you hearing from the Gophers?
Adam Trapp: I saw two of the coaches. Ever since they got the new coach (Ed Conroy) added to the staff, he has reached out to me a lot more than previous people have there and he has been building up a relationship with me. They came up for an open gym. Watched me practice a couple of times, so they are starting to reach out to me a little more and they say "Just keep playing and we can see you when you come up to our camps." They see us quite a bit, but they haven't done a ton, but they are picking it up.
Gopher Hole: They have a disappointing season last year, but are much improved this year. Does that change how you look at them, now that they are getting things turned around a little bit more?
Adam Trapp: Last year, it is hard to look at any team and be like, what are they going to do. I know that there are schools that always are prestigious for their records for basketball, but it is kind of hard to look at a school and say "Hey, in three years what are they going to have there." and that is just in incoming freshman. You almost have to judge it a little bit on before you get there, so like right before you get there. It does open your eyes a little bit, seeing that they are making improvements in the program.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you are a unique player because of your size. Do you look at how schools develop player similar to you?
Adam Trapp: That is definitely a big factor. I look at how the past that they have had big guys and how they develop them now. When I usually talk to a school, I ask them what the daily thing is for a big man in practice and they give me a rundown of that and it is a pretty good experience to get to know and I even get some ideas of things that I can do in my own workouts after that.
Gopher Hole: I know that Purdue had A.J. Hammons last year and Isaac Haas, two big guys who played together at times and would sometimes have one player be the focal point and then have the other come in for him. Minnesota has a big man in Reggie Lynch, who is a shotblocking big man. Is that something that you look at?
Adam Trapp: Yes. I definitely look at that. I talk to Isaac Haas a little bit here and there. He talks to me and tells me how they are doing. When he went to Spain, he told me how his Spain trip went. It is good to talk to him and the other players on the team that I meet with when I went down there for my visit, but Isaac, I have been getting a lot of information from him and he just tells me things. He tells me "I had a really good day. Practice was fun or practice was bad. We had to run a lot and it was killer." Me and him have a friendship relationship now where he tells me whenever I text him about his day went and stuff.
Gopher Hole: Is that kind of fun because unfortunately, with your size, not a lot of people can relate to that? Is that nice that you have built that relationship?
Adam Trapp: When I went down there and I met him, it was cool because I never met anybody, I have met people who were that tall, but they were usually pretty skinny. He is just a really big dude. He is thick. I think he is 280 or 290, which is like 50 pounds more than I am right now. He is just a big dude. It was really cool to see him. Just personal stuff. .
Gopher Hole: What are you up to right now? It looks like you gotten a little thicker.
Adam Trapp: I have been just putting in a lot of workouts. Really working on basketball pretty hard. I have some personal workouts scheduled with a trainer, so I can get a few more things going.
Gopher Hole: What are you up to right now? About 230?
Adam Trapp: 235.
Gopher Hole: You have made it to the state tournament the past two years. What do you need to do to get back there again this year?
Adam Trapp: The region is tough again. It is always going to be tough. That is a pretty good section, pretty good region to be in, but we need to play how we have been playing, but we need to, like I said, work on those things that got exposed in these type of games that we played now and we play against those teams in the section finals, we are going to have to have those things figured out. Otherwise, it could be a little more difficult than we want it to be, but we need to play how we play and pick up the errors a little bit.
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/755586?referrer_id=
Adam Trapp, a 7-foot-2 junior center from Esko (MN) High, is one of the top big men in the Midwest in the Class of 2018 and is considered the number five prospect in the in-state class.
Trapp averaged 3.8 blocked shots per game as a sophomore for the Eskomos, leading them to a 27-4 record, including a 52-40 loss to Annandale in the first round of the Class AA boys' basketball state Tournament. They allowed just 40 points per game in the regular season and outscored their opposition by 26.3 points per game. He was held to three points and three rebounds in the loss. It was the fourth straight state tournament appearance.
Trapp is taking a bigger role this season with the loss of Jaxson Turner, an all-around athlete who plays football at North Dakota this fall.
Trapp comes from an athletic family. His sister, 6-foot-9 Savanna, signed with UCLA, out of high school and Molly is a 6-foot-6 volleyball player, who played at Wisconsin-Superior last season.
Gopher Hole caught up with Trapp recently to talk about the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: You have played a tough non-conference schedule like Caledonia, who is ranked #2 in Class AA in the Tip-Off Classic. Do you like playing those tough games to get you ready for conference play and hopefully the postseason as well?
Adam Trapp: Yes. I really like playing tough games like that because it really brings out the worst in us in what we need to work on and like our coach always says, if you want to be the best, you have to play the best, so we saw what we really need to work on and there is a lot of things that our whole team can work on. I think that later down the line, we are going to be fixing those things and we can be a tough team to beat. .
Gopher Hole: Because you are the big guy, teams are going to try to push you around and double and triple team you and be physical with you. Does that ever get tiring or frustrating for you?
Adam Trapp: I wouldn't say too much frustrating. It gets a little annoying when it gets out of hand. I can handle it up to a certain point, but when it gets out of hand, it's just not playing basketball anymore, then it kind of gets to me a little bit, because if you could really play basketball, if you are on a good team, you shouldn't have to play that way, if you are a good basketball player. I play through it most of the time and that is what you've got to do anyways and play through it. .
Gopher Hole: I know that you are continuing improve all the time as a player. What things have you been working on lately to continue to improve yourself?
Adam Trapp: I've been working on a lot. Just being a lot stronger, which I have been a little in these past five games that we have played in the season so far and finishing. I tend to finish a little better than I did last year and the year before that. Just stepping up into a new role that I have on the team right now because now I am kind of in a leadership role on our team and have to get it going for our guys, so I have been working on just being a leader and working on the inside game and still play the defense that I have in the past.
Gopher Hole: Now you are an upperclassmen. You are a junior. Does it feel any different being a junior now?
Adam Trapp: It doesn't really feel much different. It's just like I said, you just have to adept to those new roles, so it is different in that sense, but I don't feel too much different. I still feel like it is my first day at practice every day. My first game. I get nervous before every game. It is just that new role that you are stepping into.
Gopher Hole: Do you like being a little bit more of a leader now that you are that upperclassmen?
Adam Trapp: Yes. I like being a leader because I like seeing people who are coming up that we can instruct ourselves in practice and push in practice and I really think coming up even after next year. I think that we are going to be amazing and the year after that, I think that our program is still going to be very, very strong, so I think that it is really cool to see those people that are below you now when you were the below person at one point.
Gopher Hole: Have you had a chance to go to any college basketball games yet this season?
Adam Trapp: Not yet. Not since a long, long time ago. I haven't really done anything since that.
Gopher Hole: When you watch college basketball or pro basketball at home on TV, are there certain players that you kind of look at or try to emulate and learn from?
Adam Trapp: Honestly, I don't watch too much college basketball. The only game that I have watched this year was Creighton versus Wisconsin. I was doing homework and turned that on in the background. I don't watch TV too much.
Gopher Hole: Do you watch pro games even?
Adam Trapp: No, Not really. I'm not super into TV.
Gopher Hole: Do you have a favorite player at all?
Adam Trapp: I've always, since I was little, like Dirk Nowitzki. He was just kind of a cool player. I sometimes watched him when they won the Finals. I can't remember what year it was. I watched him play and I liked to play off of him a little bit when I was younger. My coach told me to stop fading away, so then I got to stop doing that.
Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now?
Adam Trapp: Three still. (Purdue, DePaul and Iowa)
Gopher Hole: What other schools are you hearing from besides those three?
Adam Trapp: Thinking, just off the top of my head, I hear from Creighton quite a bit, Wisconsin still, Minnesota, Stanford, Elon and I know that there is quite a bit more, I just can't really think off the top of my head. .
Gopher Hole: I know the Gophers saw you play recently. What are you hearing from the Gophers?
Adam Trapp: I saw two of the coaches. Ever since they got the new coach (Ed Conroy) added to the staff, he has reached out to me a lot more than previous people have there and he has been building up a relationship with me. They came up for an open gym. Watched me practice a couple of times, so they are starting to reach out to me a little more and they say "Just keep playing and we can see you when you come up to our camps." They see us quite a bit, but they haven't done a ton, but they are picking it up.
Gopher Hole: They have a disappointing season last year, but are much improved this year. Does that change how you look at them, now that they are getting things turned around a little bit more?
Adam Trapp: Last year, it is hard to look at any team and be like, what are they going to do. I know that there are schools that always are prestigious for their records for basketball, but it is kind of hard to look at a school and say "Hey, in three years what are they going to have there." and that is just in incoming freshman. You almost have to judge it a little bit on before you get there, so like right before you get there. It does open your eyes a little bit, seeing that they are making improvements in the program.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you are a unique player because of your size. Do you look at how schools develop player similar to you?
Adam Trapp: That is definitely a big factor. I look at how the past that they have had big guys and how they develop them now. When I usually talk to a school, I ask them what the daily thing is for a big man in practice and they give me a rundown of that and it is a pretty good experience to get to know and I even get some ideas of things that I can do in my own workouts after that.
Gopher Hole: I know that Purdue had A.J. Hammons last year and Isaac Haas, two big guys who played together at times and would sometimes have one player be the focal point and then have the other come in for him. Minnesota has a big man in Reggie Lynch, who is a shotblocking big man. Is that something that you look at?
Adam Trapp: Yes. I definitely look at that. I talk to Isaac Haas a little bit here and there. He talks to me and tells me how they are doing. When he went to Spain, he told me how his Spain trip went. It is good to talk to him and the other players on the team that I meet with when I went down there for my visit, but Isaac, I have been getting a lot of information from him and he just tells me things. He tells me "I had a really good day. Practice was fun or practice was bad. We had to run a lot and it was killer." Me and him have a friendship relationship now where he tells me whenever I text him about his day went and stuff.
Gopher Hole: Is that kind of fun because unfortunately, with your size, not a lot of people can relate to that? Is that nice that you have built that relationship?
Adam Trapp: When I went down there and I met him, it was cool because I never met anybody, I have met people who were that tall, but they were usually pretty skinny. He is just a really big dude. He is thick. I think he is 280 or 290, which is like 50 pounds more than I am right now. He is just a big dude. It was really cool to see him. Just personal stuff. .
Gopher Hole: What are you up to right now? It looks like you gotten a little thicker.
Adam Trapp: I have been just putting in a lot of workouts. Really working on basketball pretty hard. I have some personal workouts scheduled with a trainer, so I can get a few more things going.
Gopher Hole: What are you up to right now? About 230?
Adam Trapp: 235.
Gopher Hole: You have made it to the state tournament the past two years. What do you need to do to get back there again this year?
Adam Trapp: The region is tough again. It is always going to be tough. That is a pretty good section, pretty good region to be in, but we need to play how we have been playing, but we need to, like I said, work on those things that got exposed in these type of games that we played now and we play against those teams in the section finals, we are going to have to have those things figured out. Otherwise, it could be a little more difficult than we want it to be, but we need to play how we play and pick up the errors a little bit.