Lincoln-Way West’s Wyatt Carlson has his college career mapped out.
Along with teammates Max Gabriel and Aidan Durkin, the senior forward has decided to give up competitive basketball to concentrate on academics and room together at Kentucky.
“We’ve been thinking about it for a few years,” Carlson said. “Those are two of my closest friends. I’ve been playing basketball with them my whole life. We all like (Kentucky) and said, ‘Why not?’
“The three of us are best friends — that’s going to be amazing.”
The 6-foot-5 Carlson came through with an amazing performance Saturday afternoon, scoring 23 points for the host Warriors in an 83-49 nonconference win over Joliet Catholic in New Lenox.
Carlson scored 10 points in the third quarter and finished with nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots for Lincoln-Way West (13-16). Sophomore forward Nick Brzezniak added 21 points for the Warriors, who produced their highest scoring output of the season.
Brzezniak had 17 of his points in the first half and also ended up with six rebounds. Drake Been contributed 13 points on four 3-pointers and a free throw, while Gabriel chipped in with 12 points.
Jayden Armstrong led Joliet Catholic (13-14) with 13 points. Donavyn Simmons added 10.
Carlson, meanwhile, has a variety of tools in his game. And while he may not have been recruited to play at Kentucky’s historic Rupp Arena, he will enjoy being a spectator in college.
“I’ve been to a few games there already,” Carlson said. “It’s exciting.”
Lincoln-Way West coach Tanner Mitchell is excited to see his trio of stars head to Lexington to meet up with a couple of former players for the Warriors.
“That seems to be the place to go,” Mitchell said. “That’s the new hot spot, I guess. Eli Bach, who graduated last year, is there. So is Tyler Gabriel from two years ago, and he’s Max’s brother.
“I think these guys liked playing basketball in high school, but I don’t think they had aspirations of playing at the next level. They want to go to a bigger school and do the intramural thing and watch some high-level basketball.”
Carlson, who’s also a pitcher for Lincoln-Way West in baseball, has been playing high-level basketball this season for the Warriors.
“He’s a tremendous offensive player,” Mitchell said of Carlson. “He’s 6-5 and lefthanded. He can knock down a three. That left hand throws a lot of people off.
“He can get to the basket and finish it off. He’s also a very good free-throw shooter. And defensively, he’s very good.”
Lincoln-Way West closes out the regular season Thursday against Richards. The Warriors, an 11th seed in the Class 4A Rich Township Sectional, will open the regional against seventh-seeded Lincoln-Way East, which will host the 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Feb. 26.
A win over Richards would send Lincoln-Way West into the postseason with some momentum. The Warriors lost 47-45 Friday to Bradley-Bourbonnais but played the Boilermakers tough.
Brzezniak scored 16 points in that one. Having the sophomore on a hot streak should help.
“He had some big games earlier in the year and might have hit a wall physically a little bit,” Mitchell said of Brzezniak. “We made a change in the starting lineup, and bringing him off the bench has rejuvenated him at the end of the season.”
Carlson, however, will be leaving the program with some big memories, including a couple involving the Warriors winning the first conference title in program history last season.
“Winning against Andrew to win the conference was great,” Carlson said. “But also winning against Stagg the game before was exciting. I had a breakout game with 30 points to put us in a position to win the conference.
“It was at Stagg and it was a fun environment. That was probably my favorite game.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
