College Basketball for Cobb?
- Details
- Created on Friday, 13 March 2015 19:27
- Written by JJ Murphy
LYNDON- 1,000 Point Scorer, Division 2 All-Star, Student Council President. Those are only a few of the many accomplishments Lyndon Institute Senior Jay Cobb has accomplished while competing as a three-sport student athlete.
After coming off a State Championship in his Junior year, Cobb was the experienced leader the Vikings basketball team was looking for to complete the repeat. After being told by first year Head Coach Phil Joyal that somebody had pinned the Vikings to only win six to eight games all season. The captain would not let his team be remembered like that.
The season would not get off to the start that Jay and the team would have liked winning only one of their first six games.
Under the leadership of Cobb, the only Senior on the court, the Vikings would go on an unprecedented sixteen game winning streak. Advancing all the way to the state semi-final game again Enosburg where their season would come to an end.
When asked about Jay's leadership, Athletic Director Paul Wheeler said "Jay stepped into that role and did a marvelous job with a new coach and a new team... and really came a long way."
"When I could walk basically", Jay said laughing when asked when he started playing, adding that he and his brother, Will, would play on a little tikes hoop at home. Youth basketball started a year early for the younger Cobb, who's father Dave, ran the local league.
Always the tallest on the court, Jay "likes to think of himself as a guard... calling himself a small forward." Just like everybody's, Jay's dream was to go to the NBA, these days Jay still hopes to continue playing the game he loves in college "but I wont let basketball affect my decision of where I want to go."
After graduating this year Cobb would like to attend college down south and major in Professional Golf Management with hopes to become a golf professional somewhere down the line.
When Jay says that, he doesn't mean he wants to become a professional golfer. What being a golf professional means is that he can run a country club essentially, and handle all of the business aspects of a golf course.
A late bloomer to the game of Golf, Cobb did not start playing until eighth grade, but has developed a passion for the game, saying, "it kind of took over." Asked why he loves the game, Jay says "It's the hardest game he's ever played and the mental part of it is the hardest, you kind of have to stay calm even though you're playing badly because it can go worse."
During his busy senior year, Jay was also able to find time to compete on the football team as a wide receiver.
In addition to being a stellar athlete, Jay Cobb is one of the most respected students on the entire campus. Paul Wheeler, says it best saying" Jay Cobb is one of those special kind of kids, he's not only an all state level, caliber basketball player but he's a great kid... he's president of the student body... one of the top academic students in his class." Wheeler went on to say that Jay's successes are in direct relationship to the support he gets at home from his parents Dave and Beth, and siblings Will and Alli.
According to Wheeler, the respect for Jay is mutual across the school as well as the state saying "I have honestly never heard an adult or a student talk negatively about anything to do with Jay Cobb, he's had a very positive influence on this school, on this community and I see nothing but success for him down the road... everything has been praise from his opponents... he's a special kid."
When asked about Cobb's future Wheeler said "Jay will do well in school, he's a good student, a hard worker, dedicated, and responsible... I have no doubt that Jay will do very very well."