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Don’t overlook Koufos, Eagles
Monday, November 28, 2005 <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td>By Chris Beaven REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER</td></tr></tbody> </table>
PLAIN TWP. - With a state champion just down the road, it would be easy to overlook the GlenOak Golden Eagles.
It would be a big mistake.
GlenOak enters the season eager to build on last year’s 18-5 season with 7-foot-1 junior Kosta Koufos leading the way.
“We’ve got quite a few kids back from last year,” GlenOak High School head boys coach Jack Greynolds Jr. said. “We’ve got a couple JV kids who moved up, and I feel pretty good about it. We have a good basketball IQ. Our kids play a lot of basketball on their own, and they kind of know the nuances of the game.”
Greynolds knows the game well. He learned it from his father, the late Jack Greynolds Sr., who won a state title at Barberton in 1976. And he has built his own successful career at Rootstown, Tallmadge and Buchtel before coming to GlenOak in 2003.
“I feel like these are my kids now,” Greynolds said. “I’ve been here for most of these kids’ careers. I’ve got real good relationships with them now. I feel comfortable this year.”
His comfort level rises knowing that Koufos enters his second year as a starter having grown 3 inches.
“He had a great summer,” Greynolds said. “He weighs about 240 pounds. He works out every day and has routines, and he does weightlifting.”
Koufos averaged 16.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game last season. He had a great showing at a national camp, which made him one of the most coveted juniors nationally.
Ask Greynolds what schools are recruiting his big man, and the coach answers, “Whoever you can think of.”
That includes Ohio State, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Syracuse and Connecticut.
“They’re all on him pretty hard,” Greynolds said.
What’s even more remarkable is colleges are recruiting him as a forward, not a center, because of his skills.
“He just keeps growing as a player,” Greynolds said.
Koufos needs to continue to get more consistent. His coach believes that will happen.
“He’s a kid that eats, sleeps and breaths it,” Greynolds said. “It’s going to pay off.”
And it will pay off for GlenOak, which has a strong supporting cast around Koufos.
Senior guards Errick McCollum and Nate West return. McCollum averaged 11.8 points and 3.2 assists per game. West was a steady sixth man. Senior guard Mark Moore transfers in from Heritage Christian, where he averaged 15 points per game. Two other varsity newcomers are junior guard Mark Quinn and senior forward Brian Powell.
“You can’t have one stud and think you’re going to beat everyone,” Greynolds said. “You have to have four other starters, and two or three guys off the bench that can serve you. And you have to be focused and consistent every night.”
Greynolds thinks this team can do that. Of course, like the rest of the league, GlenOak must deal with defending state champion McKinley. Greynolds knows the Bulldogs will be outstanding.
“I think our kids look at it as a privilege to play them at least once a year, and possibly three times,” he said.
Last year, three of GlenOak’s five losses came to McKinley. The Bulldogs won easily the first two times, but the Eagles gave them a tough tournament game before losing, 51-42.
“We’ll approach them with confidence and respect, and you might knock them off on a certain night,” Greynolds said. “But it’s going to be hard to do.”
GlenOak will not be preoccupied with McKinley. The Eagles have added Detroit Country Day and Cleveland Heights to their schedule.
“We’re going to take them as they come,” Greynolds said. “... It’s a challenge to see where you are at the end of the year. I kind of look at like an artist working with a block of wood.
“You chip away at it, and it either looks like a beauty or a piece of garbage. You hope when you chip away, you make the right chips and hopefully you’ll have a good product by the end of the year.”

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