Editor’s note: This is a regular feature profiling senior athletes at Bryant High School.
NAME: Kendall Butzlaff
DATE OF BIRTH: June 11, 1992
PARENTS: Jim and Melinda Butzlaff
SIBLINGS: Kevin Butzlaff. He’s 21.
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Math
FAVORITE SPARE TIME ACTIVITY: Hang out with my friends, just doing anything outdoors
FAVORITE FOOD: Mexican or Italian or something like that.
FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST OR GROUP: Justin Moore[more]
FAVORITE MOVIE: Hangover
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Family Guy
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A KID? Probably my bike
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? Go to U of A and either major in business management or something to do with cars.
OTHER THAN YOUR PARENTS, WHO’S HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? HOW? Probably my grandmother because she was always up in the stands, no matter what it was. She’d always come to my games. She always wanted to see me play, no matter if I did bad or good. She just liked to see me play.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BASKETBALL? Just having fun. It’s just what I always loved as a kid.
PRIMARY POSITION: The four and the five, power forward and center.WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES ARE ON THE FLOOR? Rebound and defense, for sure.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SEASON SO FAR? We’re pretty even. We could’ve beat some teams that we lost to, some teams that we beat could’ve beat us. So, it’s pretty evened out.
WHEN THE TEAM’S PLAYING WELL, WHAT’S IT DOING? We’re just playing basketball, playing with the guys that we’re in with, just being a team and not arguing, running the floor.
WHAT’S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT TO THE SEASON SO FAR? We went to three overtimes against Wynne and beat them. I don’t know. We thought we could’ve beat Van Buren. We should’ve. I don’t know what happened there.
WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL THE REST OF THE SEASON? Just stay together, don’t get down just because we lose to one team we should’ve beat, and just come out the next time and play our hardest, learn from what we did wrong the game before and don’t let it happen again.
TALK ABOUT YOUR GAME NOW; WHAT ARE YOU MOST CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITY TO DO? I feel I’m better at defense just because I’m not a big scorer on offense. But I have several steals and that’s my side of the game.
WHAT DO YOU WORK HARDEST TO IMPROVE ON IN PRACTICE? Probably doing moves underneath the goal because that’s not what I’m strongest at. That’s what I want to improve because I don’t really affect anything there.
WHEN YOU’RE THROUGH PLAYING BASKETBALL AT BRYANT HIGH SCHOOL, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL LOOK BACK AND REMEMBER MOST FONDLY ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE? The Friday nights, just seeing the gym fill up and just getting all excited, and always nervous no matter how many times I’ve played the game.
