Take a good look at Jacob Golden on the court, and you might be able to guess what he was doing last year instead of playing basketball.
Golden’s thick upper body and chiseled arms will jump out at you, especially as he works against opposing perimeter players who aren’t nearly as muscled. To use Emporia High coach Rick Bloomquist’s terminology, the 5-foot-11 Golden is “like a little baby beast.”
The muscles are a product of a year spent away from the basketball court. After playing basketball his entire life, and playing on EHS’s sophomore team two years ago, last year Golden decided to focus on becoming a weight-room rat.
“I got into this whole little bodybuilding kind of thing, just wanted to get my body real up to shape,” Golden said. “I met a friend, Barry Johnson, in gym, and (he) trained with me, just trained together, and I basically fell in love with it.
“And I still love to lift, but I also missed basketball, so I figure I can do both if I take a little break from it, just get back into it after the season.”
So this year, to the delight of Bloomquist, Golden is back for a senior year of varsity hoops. Not only that, the year off doesn’t appear to have had much adverse effect; he’s starting at one of the forward spots for the Spartans and, slotted in as a role player, has become one of EHS’s top defenders.
“I want Jacob to be our defensive stopper,” Bloomquist said. “Probably our best on-ball defender is Taylor (Euler). But you’ve gotta give Taylor a little bit of a breather somewhere, much as we ask him to play and take over. ... My next best, I think, is Jacob Golden, because he’s got great feet, he’s very athletic and he’s a workhorse.”
Bloomquist was so admiring of Golden’s abilities as a younger player that, when Golden told him last year that he wouldn’t be trying out for basketball, Bloomquist said it broke his heart.
“Because he’s a nice player,” the coach said. “He’s always been a great player. He’s been in our program ever since he’s been 8 years old — and sometimes, kids just do funny things.”
Golden got his results in the weight room, but with his time away from the hardwood, he began to get what the briefly retired Brett Favre referred to as “the itch.”
“I was watching (EHS) last season, and at the beginning, I was like, ‘well, it’s all right, I’m fine, I’m over it,’” Golden said. “But then as the season progressed, I was like, ‘I’m really starting to miss this.’ So I started working back into it, and I told Coach last year that I was gonna come back and I was gonna try out for the team.”
That was news the coach loved to hear, and Golden earned a starting spot as the small forward. Getting back into basketball shape was a bit of a challenge — Golden’s workout regimen had included cardio, but not the kind needed for basketball. Other than that, he feels like he got back into the swing of things without any trouble.
Golden was battling shin splints during the Terry Classic, and he hasn’t added much in the way of scoring thus far. He got four points in the season opener at Leavenworth, then didn’t score at all in the Terry Classic, shooting just five times in the Spartans’ three tournament games. But the defensive-stopper role is one he can excel at. When EHS went to a box-and-one defense in Saturday’s 52-48 loss to Olathe East in the Terry title game, it was Golden guarding — and, it appeared, frustrating — East sharpshooter Danny Mundweiler. He also had five rebounds against Word of Life.
“I feel confident in my defense, and coach has really helped us all focus on the defense,” he said. “And we’re all pretty good defensive players, and I figure with my physique, (the weightlifting) just really helps with it. I can guard in the post (and out) on the 3-point line.”
The EHS boys open Centennial League play on Friday night when they host Topeka High. To make noise in the league this year, they’ll need Golden’s muscle and defensive tenacity to play key roles.
“I’m glad I’m doing this, grinding it out,” he said. “I love playing defense. That’s what I’m here for.”