The varsity basketball team is a difficult team to make as an underclassman. you have to be a special athlete to make varsity as a freshman or sophomore. Sophomore Andrew Larsen, commonly known as Drew, is that special.  He has been on the varsity basketball team since he was a freshman. He is not only a talented basketball player with strength, but he is also a player with character. According to Erik Lyslo, Gresham varsity basketball’s head coach, character is a large factor when building a roster.

“Tryouts are based on a number of things: Talent, character, year in school and then development. The more talented players are obviously going to play on the higher level of teams, but character of the player is the first thing we always look for. If they pass that test, we move on to talent, year in school, playing time and making sure players are developing,” Lyslo said.

  Lyslo wants the main goal for every basketball player to be making it onto varsity. He liked Larsen at tryouts last year and wanted him for the varsity team because he had potential in his eyes.

  “We saw Drew as an 8th grader and the first thing you notice is how developed his body was as a freshman. He was very strong, he shot the ball well, he was very coachable and we are always looking to move guys up if they are ready,” Lyslo said

 Drew knew playing on a team with upperclassmen as a freshman would be hard, but he was ready for the challenge and wanted to learn more skills from the older players.

 “It was very exciting and thrilling but also a lot of responsibilities come with it. I learned a lot from the older, more experienced players on my team. It really was a good challenge,” Larsen said.

According to Lyslo Larsen fit in well with the varsity team and he is looking to be a big factor on the team this year. “He has looked pretty good in preseason so far,” Lyslo said.

Larsen is the type of teenager who strives for more on the court. Every mistake he makes, he is willing to fix at every cost. Andrew Larsen is a skilled player who will only get better with more experience.