Dudzinski contemplates future

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It's an unavoidable question. After morphing from a part-time starter as a 6-foot-3 freshman on the sophomore basketball team, into a 6-7, maybe 6-8, all-conference center this past season, Dave Dudzinski's future in athletics changed dramatically. Colleges quickly took notice of the Kaneland big-man's upside. He was, suddenly, an emerging basketball prospect. But here he is, once again sweating his way through a three-sport summer. Why, Dave? “I wouldn't know which one to stop,” he said. Dudzinski played varsity football last fall and sophomore baseball in the spring. Basketball, he admits, eclipsed the other two. “Especially last year, basketball emerged as my No. 1 sport,” said Dudzinski, who in addition to intensive strength work, wants to become a more natural dunker this summer. “But I still love all of them. No one at the high school has discouraged that. There's never a dull moment. I get to play games I love for 12 hours a day and go to bed and do it all over. ... I'm just focusing more on basketball now.” It's a sensible decision. Currently at a true 6-8, Dudzinski said he thinks he still is growing. With the athleticism of a three-sport athlete, Dudzinski, who recently turned 16, is an enticing package on the hardcourt. “He still has a little bit to go, but his coordination at his size is impressive,” Kaneland boys basketball coach Dennis Hansen said. “This will be a big season for him as far as college goes.” To raise his game and, hopefully, his profile, Dudzinski made his AAU basketball debut this spring with Naperville-based Velocity. “Being in DuPage County, I had maybe heard a little about him - a 6-8 all-conference sophomore, of course I was interested,” said Velocity coach Dave Groharing, a former all-conference basketball player at Division II Lewis University. “He's a nice, natural athlete. You can certainly see there's a very raw side to his game, but things will smooth out. ... “He's been holding his own against some very good competition. It's always hard to say how guys will develop long-term, but I can't question his work ethic, and he definitely has the tools to be a scholarship player.” Along with AAU and high school basketball commitments this summer, Dudzinski is playing high school and travel baseball, where he is a pitcher and first baseman. As a tight end in football, he also hopes to get to some 7-on-7s this summer on top of the Knights' camp, which begins next month. But basketball is in the spotlight, which still takes some getting used to for the rising junior, whose father, Dave Sr., played football at Northwestern, where his mother, Barb, swam. “I didn't really realize what I might be able to do in basketball almost until after the season,” Dudzinski said. “One day coach Hansen was walking down the hallway and said, ‘I've got a letter for you.' Š It was from UCLA. It was just a questionnaire, but it was pretty cool. I have to improve a lot, but it was kind of like, ‘Wow.' ” While Dudzinski doesn't regard himself as a Bruin in the makings, he doesn't want to limit himself, either, not after the abilities he discovered last season. “I want to keep getting better and play at as high a [collegiate] level as I can,” he said.