In the paint, behind the arc, or at the free throw line, Trevor Jasinsky is a serious scoring threat. // Photo by Oliver Hamlin
By Mitch Farley
Junior co-captain of the men’s basketball team Trevor Jasinsky reached 1,000 career points against University of Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Feb. 21, over half of which been scored this season. Jasinsky’s 544 points make him the Vikings’ leading scorer this season.
Jasinsky said he’s worked diligently to achieve this milestone but credits a lot of his success to outside factors. Jasinsky is actually one of three Western players to make the record books for scoring in the last few years.
“Playing behind the greats like JP [Jeffrey Parker] and Taylor [Stafford], who’ve both had huge individual seasons for Western, they definitely helped lead the path for me,” Jasinsky said.
Jasinsky has been the Vikings’ go-to shooter this season. According to Head Coach Tony Dominguez, he’s a gifted scorer who can handle the weight of the role.
“That’s why we recruited Trevor when he was younger, to be this guy,” Dominguez said.
This season will land Jasinsky on a few pages of Western’s record books, including putting him on the list of most points in one season, where he currently sits in third place behind Parkers 15-16 season. Additionally, if he scores 40 points in the final two games, which is close to his 19.4 point per game average this season, he will end the regular season in 20th place in all-time scoring as a Viking. That 19.4 average would also put him in 10th place for points per game throughout a single season in Vikings history.
Jasinsky said point guard Tyler Payne has contributed a lot to his scoring this season and the two have developed an effective relationship on the court which garners both of them individual success.
“Tyler always makes it easy for me. He’s out here getting me open looks and making scoring easier,” Jasinsky said.
Dominguez, who’s in his 11th season as head coach, has seen Jasinsky grow from a redshirt-freshman to the team’s leading scorer. Dominguez said he’s thrilled to see this accomplishment materialize for Jasinsky.
This season, Dominguez said he’s seen Jasinsky improve on other aspects of his game too. Rebounding and leadership skills are some things Dominguez has seen Jasinsky hone in on.
Jasinsky said assistant coach David Dunham has been a big part of his success at Western as well.
“[Dominguez and Dunham have] given me the confidence to go out there and play my game. They’ve also helped me add moves to my repertoire, so a lot of credit goes out to those guys,” Jasinsky said.
As the postseason nears, things are looking decent for the team and its leading scorer. The Vikings are currently in sixth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the top six teams of the conference move on to the postseason. Jasinsky said the Vikings are currently in a heated battle between three other teams, all of whom have in-conference records that are within one game of each other.
Regardless of this season’s outcome, Jasinsky is proud of his performance. Plus, the junior forward still has one more year of eligibility, so Western will likely be hearing a lot more from him.
“I feel super blessed to be in this position,” Jasinsky said. “I worked for this, but I wasn’t expecting it, especially so early in my career so I feel very thankful.”
