Waterloo Chronicle: Cvrkalj Caps Season with MVP Nod

By:  Bob Vrbanac

Retrieved From:  http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/article/208589

In the span of a week he had a private workout for an NCAA Division 1 school, played in the annual WCSSAA all-star game and was named the league’s MVP after winning the Mike Moser award.

Not a bad week for Bluevale’s Stefan Cvrkalj. But he said it wouldn’t have meant a thing if he didn’t have those rings.

In this case those rings came with winning Bluevale’s first WCSSAA and CWOSSA senior boys basketball titles in the school’s 28- year history.

“I wouldn’t haven’t been able to do this without my teammates,” said Cvrkalj, who is the fourth player in school history to win the Mike Moser award. The other winners were Gord Caldwell in 1976, John Hamilton in 1989 and former national team member and University of Waterloo hall-of-famer Sean Van Koughnett in 1990.

His coach said he’s a modest kid, who elevated the game of those who played with him.

“He’s such a confident kid, and determined, that all the kids fed off of that,” said Doros Theodosiou. “He’s the first kid I can honestly say — and I’ve seen a lot of great players in this league — who made everybody around him better.”

But it was the team accomplishments that mattered most to the 18-year-old Grade 12 student who starred at point guard for the Waterloo school. The accolades that came with those championships were a nice byproduct of a year of highlights for one of the best all-around guards this area has ever produced.

Bucknell was the latest U. S. college to visit last week, scouting the potential NCAA prospect. It’s the same school, near Pittsburgh, P. A., that Waterloo St. David’s grad Bryson Johnson is starring at and could be a nice fit for Cvrkalj. He is looking for a school with a strong academic tradition in addition to a competitive basketball program.

“That will definitely be a deciding factor,” he said. “I’m looking for a program where I can get the best education.”

He’s also been scouted by some Ivy League schools, like Cornell, which would fit the criteria of what he’s looking for in his basketball future. That’s in addition to being scouted by big-time NCAA programs like Auburn and Stanford.

But if you think all this hype has gotten to the soft-spoken shooter who lets his basketball skills do all the talking for him, you’d be wrong. That’s because he hasn’t ruled out playing CIS basketball in Canada, which has local coaches at Wilfrid Laurier University and the UW hopeful that they can keep the basketball prodigy playing at home. Cvrkalj said he isn’t ready to make his great leap forward until the best opportunity to play and study presents itself. Basketball might be his ticket to an education, but he said the degree he earns would set him up for the rest of his life.

“I’m not going to sacrifice my education to play basketball,” he said.

That might mean he will be dominating local basketball courts again next season. There’s nothing wrong with back-to-back titles and perhaps an extended run at OFSAA with the Knights only graduating two starters from this year’s championship team.

Theodosiou said he’s happy to support his star player in whatever decision he makes.

“He’s ready to graduate, but his aspirations are to play Division I basketball, and that part is out of his control,” said Theodosiou, about the honour roll student with the 90 average.

In the meantime, Cvrkalj will be doing his best to improve on his already impressive basketball skills. He’s looking to play for a Toronto travel team that could give him some more U. S exposure, while continuing to improve his on-court game with his personal coach Zelimir Stevanovic.

Stevanovic, a former pro player in Europe who played at the University of Pittsburgh, has Cvrkalj working on his quickness, which should help him bring the ball up the court against smaller guards. He’s also looking to add some more muscle to his six-foot-four frame.

The one thing he’s not afraid of is hard work, especially in his pursuit of his basketball dream.

“I’ve sacrificed a lot to get this opportunity,” he said,

“I’m pretty patient — I can wait for the right thing to come along.”