Etzler keeps family tradition going as he looks ahead to future at Ohio State
CONVOY, Ohio (BVM) — Kalen Etzler is a stud on the basketball court, and has garnered attention for years. With a state championship under his belt, the 6-foot-8 standout will soon be taking his talents to the Ohio State Buckeyes. However, he is not the first to follow that path, as Etzler comes from a rich family history in the sport.
Etzler grew an instant love for basketball from the start as he looked up to several of his family members. Perhaps his biggest role model has always been his older brother, Javin, who now plays collegiately at Miami University (OH).
“He’s probably my biggest hero when it comes to basketball,” Kalen said about Javin. “Midway through grade school, we started going to the gym together and some days we’d spend the whole day up there. He taught me how to shoot at a high rate and has a big 6-foot-8 frame who can get inside and grab rebounds. The type of player he is really fits college and I hope that Miami can mold him into a really good all-around player.”
Kalen and Javin are far from the only collegiate basketball players in the family. Both of their parents also played at the next level, with their mom, Krista, playing at Xavier and later Ashland University. Their father, Andy, also played at Ashland.
Kalen’s grandfather, Ray, is a hall of fame high school basketball coach as well, and was the head man at Crestview High School for 28 years. That role now belongs to Kalen’s uncle, Doug, who is perhaps the family member Kalen has followed the path of most.
Doug is a former collegiate player at Ohio State University, where he averaged over 16 points per game as a senior. Now, it will be Kalen’s turn to shine for the Buckeyes.
“He was a big decision on my commitment,” Kalen said. “I remember calling him one of the nights that I was debating on my final decision and he said, ‘There’s nothing like being a Buckeye and playing in your home state, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.’ I really looked up to him as a player growing up and have heard stories about the incredible mentality he had. I just try to follow in his footsteps with his work ethic.”
The 6-foot-8 basketball standout has been heavily recruited over the last couple of years. Several big-time programs had interest in Kalen including Purdue, Louisville and various schools in the Mid-American Conference. But between what the Buckeyes are building in their program, and his uncle’s advice, the commitment to Ohio State was an easy one.
“Ohio State was the earliest one to jump on me and I committed on the spot because I knew that’s where I wanted to go,” Kalen said. “I’m really excited to get there with Coach Holtmann and even when I committed, it really just felt like home.”
While Kalen had announced his verbal commitment already quite a while back, his official signing day came last November. The moment was a special one, as he was surrounded by numerous family members and friends as he finally put pen to paper.
“It was really cool to have all my past coaches there, family friends, my grandpa, my uncle, my dad, my mom, my little sister, it was just really special,” Kalen explained. “The fact that I was allowed to have that during Covid made me happy. Putting that pen to paper and looking out and seeing all the people who invested their time and helped me get there, I was just so thankful.”
Before Kalen heads off to Columbus, Ohio, he has some unfinished business to take care of through the rest of his high school tenure.
Throughout his basketball career, the Crestview senior has become a sharp passer for his size, and a strong shooter as well. He has modeled his game after NBA stars past and present, including Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
After a strong performance locally during his youth, Kalen was approached to begin his AAU basketball career with Indy Heat. Playing with some other organizations throughout his time on the hardwood, AAU ball has taught the 18-year-old that he needs to work hard to get to where he wants to be.
“Going to those tournaments and seeing all the kids out there really opened my eyes to the fact that my talent might be a big fish in a small pond, so I’m going to have to put in a lot of work if I’m going to get to where I want to go,” Kalen said.
With so much experience under his belt, the transition to high school ball was a seamless one for Kalen. Although he would fracture his back as a freshman obviously limiting his season, Kalen came back with a vengeance in his sophomore campaign, as he and his brother would help lead Crestview to an OHSAA Division IV state championship.
“I came back stronger and was with my brother and him and all his friends got me ready to get going,” Kalen said. “We struggled early in my sophomore season and got a loss, but I think that really lit a fire under us and from that point on, we started destroying teams. I felt like there was no one who could stop us.”
Crestview was indeed unstoppable throughout the rest of 2019, as that one early-season loss would be the last they suffered on their way to an impressive 28-1 record. At the state title game, Kalen put up a solid stat line with 14 points and six rebounds in the Knights’ blowout win.
Although they didn’t maintain the same team success the following season, Kalen continued his breakout, becoming a second-team all-state player as the featured star for the Knights. As he has continued into his senior season this winter, Kalen has also developed into a true leader.
“Last season really prepared me for this year and we’re doing a lot better and winning games,” Kalen said. “It’s not really about scoring. At the end of the game, I just hope we have more points than the other team.”
Of course, some of that leadership has been passed down from his uncle Doug, who has been able to continue teaching Kalen the game as Crestview’s head coach.
“When Doug came in, he was the same exact way as my grandpa,” Kalen said. “He stresses fundamentals, likes to get stuff done, grind it out and put in the work to get to where you need to go.”
As he finishes up his high school career, Kalen just hopes to enjoy his time with his friends and help take the Knights as far as they can go.
While that is the short-term goal, the long-term desire for the 18-year-old is taking his game all the way to the professional level. However, he plans to be a mainstay at Ohio State for quite a while before that would happen.
“That’s always been a goal of mine to make some money off of the sport I love so much,” Kalen said. “But I’m more of a long-term college player and not a one-and-done. I’m still trying to change my body and learn some stuff before I head off. I’m just trying to go in there and contribute to the success of the program before I do what I need to do for myself.”
Kalen’s humble attitude is part of why he has been so successful, and will be at Ohio State. A top-rated prospect in the state throughout the last several years, Kalen is motivated by the rankings.
“I had some early success in my career and when I started to get going, it was cool to see my name on some of those lists,” Kalen said. “It always has kept me hungry and motivated to crack the top-100 and stay in the top-100.”
As he heads off to Ohio State, Kalen will do so with some other impressive in-state recruits, including Garfield Heights’ Meechie Johnson — who enrolled early at OSU — and St. Vincent-St. Mary shooting guard Malaki Branham. Those three among others give the Buckeyes a very bright future, and Kalen is excited to see what they can accomplish during his time at Ohio State.
“When I arrive on campus, I hope I can learn a bunch of things from the older guys before they head off,” Kalen concluded. “I can see a lot more success coming within the program because people like Meechie, Malaki and I are grinders and hard workers. Chris Holtmann gets everyone invested in each other and gets them to play team basketball so I can just tell that we are going to have good upcoming years and hopefully once all this Covid stuff goes away, we can pack the arena and grind it all out together.”
