There is a moment in every person’s life when they discover their passion.
This moment can occur at different ages, stages and times in their lives.
Junior forward Ty Egbert is lucky — his moment came in middle school.
As a member of his local Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, Egbert was given the opportunity to travel all across the state of Washington and even to parts of Oregon.
“We played teams from all over, Yakima, Seattle, even down in Oregon,” Egbert said. “Then I finally realized ‘Hey I’m pretty decent at playing. I think if I just keep working at it I could possibly earn a scholarship somewhere.’”
And work hard is what he did.
Egbert described the jump from high school to college as “night and day.”
As a member of a small, rural town, he was at a disadvantage. Not many high school students from Lake Roosevelt High School went on to play Division 1 basketball.
“It was something I had to really work hard at, coming from a small school,” Egbert, “It was difficult at first to realize, ‘This is what I have to do to achieve what I want.’”
Egbert’s first practice with the Vandals made him realize that he would need to get in collegiate shape.
“Holy cow I need to get bigger,” Egbert said. “I need to get stronger and be more physical.”
After spending the 2012-2013 season as a redshirt, Egbert made his first collegiate start and averaged 2 points per game in his second season with the Vandals.
Now in his third season with Idaho, the 6-foot-9-inch forward has become a fixture in the starting lineup as injuries plague the team. He has started in every game since Jan. 23.
“There’s still more that I can do to add weight and be stronger,” Egbert said.
Against Montana State, Egbert scored a career-high 18 points. The matchup marked his first game as a starter this season.
“Starting, you have to get used to the feel right away and be able to know ‘Hey, this is what I need to do to help us win,’” Egbert said. “Sometimes your role could be ‘I need to score’ or ‘I need to rebound.’”
Egbert has shown that his greatest strength is playing on both sides of the ball. The junior has led Idaho several times in recent weeks in points and rebounds.
Sophomore small forward Jordan Scott has played with Egbert for three years as Vandals.
“It’s been really fun. He’s obviously a skilled big,” Scott said. “There’s not a lot of bigs that are almost seven foot who have the kind of touch that Ty has around the basket.”
Idaho coach Don Verlin is impressed with Egbert’s improvement from bench player to key starter.
“Your opportunity is going to come and it’s your job to take advantage of that opportunity and Ty’s done a great job of that,” Verlin said. “Ty’s had his best season he’s had at the University of Idaho this year.”
Verlin and Egbert both agree that maturing off the court has greatly improved his game.
“He can consistently bring it every day,” Verlin said. “Watching him in the three years before he’s shown flashes of being really good. His biggest improvement is consistently night after night going out and getting us some points and some rebounds.”
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos