Logan basketball: Jake Cazier profile

On Saturday, March 11, I interviewed Logan (Utah) High School basketball player Jake Cazier. His team just finished their season and this article about him will appear in his team's post-season yearbook.

Jake
Cazier:

His role may have been as a backup,
but he relished making himself known

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

Of all the Logan basketball players, Jake Cazier should have played football.

He loved the excitement, the physicality and the competition. Cazier, however, also had a back injury. It may have prevented him from getting on the gridiron, but nowhere else.

Cazier was Logan’s backup center. Coach Logan Brown said the 6-foot-4 post player also looked the best getting off the bus. His bruising presence gave the Grizzlies a means to counter bigger teams in Region 5 and was a welcomed addition as the team rolled to a 16-6 season record.

“He is one of the highest-character kids I’ve ever coached,” Brown said. “He got rebounds and putbacks and was always defending. Always ready to step up.”

Until his senior year, Cazier was mostly known at Logan for all the hours he spent in the weight room – up to 10 hours per week. He used his brawn best competing for the Logan track and field team. As a senior, Cazier was Logan’s biggest hope in the decathlon, an event that usually is an invitation to only the best athletes.

“I love basketball and it’s way more fun,” Cazier said. “It’s just that track and field is what I’m really good at doing.”

Cazier was Logan’s track MVP as a junior. He didn’t get that kind of recognition in basketball, but the Grizzlies were made up primarily of role players. He played in every game as a senior and average 3.1 points per game. He had nine points and eight rebounds in the opener against Uintah. He also had eight points against Box Elder.

“It was a great season,” Cazier said. “We went from being last in our region to tying for first (place). The team was more like a family. We were always buddies. I loved it all. I didn’t want it to end.”

Cazier said his favorite moment was Logan’s home victory against Sky View.

“The very end of that game was my favorite. It was my favorite moment through all of basketball. The students stormed the court and it was a monumental moment.

“I was on the bench late in the game. When Luke Falk hit those free throws, we jumped up and down. We went into the locker room and doused the coach (with water) afterward. It was great.”

Brown said Cazier played a big role in that game, even though his statistics showed just four points and two rebounds.

“He was pushing Casey Oliverson around,” Brown said. “He did a great job coming off the bench and playing his role.”

Cazier said he wasn’t necessarily pushing. He was just trying to play his game.

“Coach told me to make myself known and I was just trying to bring energy,” he said. “I enjoyed moving people around and having high intensity to get boards (rebounds). I put in some points here and there. Mostly, it was keeping the (team) energy rolling.”

Cazier said he felt his best game was Logan’s home game against Box Elder. The night before, he attended a team meeting where Brown asked the players to set goals for the game.

“I didn’t play a ton of minutes, and I don’t remember my stats,” he said. “But coach set up a rating scale and it was my best game.”

Playing in the state tournament at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake was also a thrill. Cazier remembered when the Logan varsity basketball team last made it to state – as a 3A team – when he was a freshman and he wanted to feel that experience again.

“I kind of forgot about, but when we got there, I remembered,” he said. “It was a dream come true. The atmosphere was amazing. I felt like we all tried our best.”

With all those great moments, it doesn’t bother Cazier that he didn’t play football. As a senior, he and Russell Murphy helped lead the Grizzlies’ cheering section at all of the football games, and he felt the football team reciprocated during the basketball season.

After graduation, Cazier said he planned to work full-time during the summer, attend Utah State University and then leave on an LDS Church Mission. He hopes to eventually earn a degree in engineering.

“I’m going to try to get on the track team there,” he said. “Whatever happens … happens, but I’ll give it my best.”