Recruiting Report: Nick Basten (2019)

Brian Jerzak July 30, 2018 @ 05:29 AM

As a sophomore undersized offensive lineman, East Ridge's Nick Basten felt he was getting pushed around his first year playing varsity football. A year and thirty additional pounds and Basten has turned himself into one of the best blockers in the state. He is hoping to help his team rebound from a season that didn't end the way the two-year started wanted. "We started out well last year," Basten recalled. "Then we slowly started going downhill a little bit. It wasn't what we all expected, but we learned from it and are ready to come back this year." Coming out of the gate at 3-1, Basten felt a strong running game was one of the keys to the Raptors early season success. "We had a good running game, and our defense was getting stops and not giving up big plays." Starting on the offensive line for the second year, Basten saw a lot of improvement in his game during his second stint on varsity. "I improved a lot from last year when I was 210 pounds playing right tackle. I was getting thrown around a little bit. This year I feel like I was throwing people around most of the season. Having that sophomore season under my belt made me more experienced and made me prepared to come out and play my best almost every snap." Obviously, the additional weight he put on between his sophomore and junior seasons had a big hand in Basten's improvement. "My run blocking improved the most – just being able to drive guys down the field and then finish them," the right tackle said. "It turned my run blocking into my strength." During the offseason, Basten has focused on becoming more explosive. "I need to improve my first punch off the line of scrimmage," NFN's 123rd ranked 2019 graduate said. "I also need to improve my footwork to improve my pass blocking." This winter Basten spent his time on the rink. "I am a defenseman on the hockey team," Basten said. "I feel like I am a smart player. I think about what I am going to do before I do things on the ice. I am not going to be the guy who is skating up and down the ice a thousand times, but I make smart passes and smart plays instead of trying to take a ton of chances." During the spring and summer, Basten's focus was back on football. In the weight room his spring workouts- four days a week - focused on bench, clean and squat. In the summer, continuing to work with the school's program, he lifts three days a week and runs three days a week as well. Baston has had success on the recruiting trail – mainly by showing what he can do once he gets on campus. "Recruiting is going well," the 6'4" 245-pound tackle said. "I've earned all my offers at camps. I am still talking to a lot of schools." Baston has offers from South Dakota State, South Dakota, Northern Michigan and Princeton. Wisconsin, Western Illinois, Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, and Buffalo are also looking at him. "At the camps, I did well during run blocking drills," Basten explained. "I am an undersized lineman, and I would be going against 280-pound linemen. I would be getting lower than them and driving them off the ball. I think that impressed a lot of people." "They like how athletic I am," Basten continued. They like my 6'9" wingspan. They like how explosive I am off the ball with my first punch and how I can keep my pads down." With his added weight and skill – very few defenders will be pushing Basten around during his final high school football season.