Bingham basketball: Summer Yack profile

In mid-March, I had the opportunity to interview Bingham (Utah) guard Summer Yack. It was a great pleasure for me. She was the team's only senior and meant so much to the rest of them. The article below will be published in Bingham's post-season yearbook.

Summer Yack:

She was the team’s top scorer and
her leadership was noted everywhere

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

It’s difficult to tell if Summer Yack knew how important she was to the Bingham girls basketball team this year.

Sure, she led the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game. She was also the leader in free-throw shooting, three-pointers and assists. She was the only senior on the squad and was named all-region and all-state, even though she missed the team’s last six games due to a torn ACL.

“Summer led us,” said Ashton Henderson, a team captain. “She was our (only) senior … our leader. We had four captains, but we all looked up to her.”

Fact is, everyone looked up to Yack, and not just her teammates. The opponent’s playbook on Bingham all read, “watch out for Yack.” And, at the end of the season, everyone watched her on the sidelines, too, as she watched games on crutches and, eventually, while wearing a “boot.”

She scored in double figures in 13 of the 17 games she played as a senior. She achieved a high game of 22 points twice – against Timpanogos and Lone Peak. She had a career-best five three-pointers her junior year against Layton.

Yack, of course, was hurt Jan. 26 in a game at American Fork. It was during the final minutes, and she still managed to hobble off the court. Her loss hurt the team, but that’s not how she wanted to be remembered.

Yack was a rare four-year varsity letterwinner at Bingham, and she made a contribution each year – even as a freshman. She finished her Bingham career with 658 points. Coach Rand Rasmussen said she was one of the top players in his 23 years at the school.

“She was our most mature kid and a calming influence (this year),” he said. “We missed her shooting, her unselfishness, her ability to find the right person and get them set up to score. Just her presence.”

Yack grew up just a couple of blocks from Bingham and she and Rasmussen met at a summer camp when Yack was a third grader. Rasmussen said he knew she was destined to be something special.

"She's from a family of athletes, and that work ethic has been demonstrated in her family," Rasmussen said. "She played as hard at practice as she does in a game. When we finished practicing, she'd go back to the gym and shoot some more. ... She's the kind of kid who will go to rehab 40 times a day rather than once."

Yack became almost like another coach afterward, sitting next to Bingham’s assistants on the bench and providing support to her teammates. Her time there made her appreciate her playing days even more.

She said her best memories of the season was helping Bingham to a 9-0 start. Her favorite game was when she scored 21 points in the Miners’ 68-52 home victory over rival Alta, who was also the defending 5A champion.

“We were excited to play that one, and we were up by 30 at one time,” she said.

What made Yack so effective was her three-point shooting. In that game, Yack had two and Jilian Powell and Ashton Henderson added one each. For the season, Bingham prided itself on its perimeter play and, with Yack leading the way, used three-pointers to key momentum swings.

“A three-pointer can really turn a game around,” she said. “For a while, it was all clicking.”

Yack received a basketball scholarship to play at Salt Lake Community College, and was happy to sign it shortly after tryouts. She was concerned that SLCC wouldn’t honor it following her injury, but Bruins’ coach Betsy Specketer was still happy to have her join the team.

Yack hoped to avoid further injuries and continue her playing career. Certainly, her abilities were welcomed at Bingham and played a big role in the team’s success during her stay here.