WILLISTON - It took University of Nebraska offensive line coach Barney Cotton less than one game of watching Coyotes senior Brent Qvale to know Qvale could succeed for the Cornhuskers football team.
But it wasn't a football game - it was a basketball game.
"Every time a football coach came to watch him play, it takes them one minute to say he's going to be a great lineman (at the Division I level)," Williston head coach Mark Slotsve said. "It's all hands and feet. (Cotton) showed up, watched him and said you can play all five positions on the line."
Qvale has shown those skills on the court for the Coyotes this season, helping Williston to a 4-1 start and a No. 2 ranking in the state.
Qvale's numbers have been astounding. He leads all Class A players in scoring wtih 25 ppg, rebounding with 14.4 a game. He has shot 63.9 percent from the field and is second in the state in blocked shots.
While Qvale takes his basketball seriously, he always knew football would be his choice for the next level.
"I was pretty much always set on football," he said. "I knew that was going to be my future."
But until he arrives on the Nebraska campus, he will be competing for the Williston basketball team and trying to repeat as state shot put champion in the spring.
"He's very athletic for 6-foot-7 and 320," Slotsve said. "If you look at him coming off the street, you'd say 'Can this guy really play basketball?' But he's quick and can get up the court and can handle himself on the floor."
Qvale learned plenty of lessons from his brother Brian, now a starting center for the University of Montana team.
"I played Brian my whole life," Qvale said. "I had to learn how to do different moves and shoot over people. He developed all my post moves and taught me a lot of basketball."
Qvale and his Williston teammates will have to be at the top of their game Friday, when they welcome No. 1 Mandan to town. Qvale and the rest of the Mandan posts will go up against 6-foot-7 Braves center Bryan Kielpinski.
"This will be the biggest game of the year so far, the No. 1 and 2 teams meeting up," Qvale said. "It's at home, so that gives us a little bit of an advantage, so hopefully it's a good game... This is probably going to be the biggest test for me to guard him and a big test for me, too. They have some shooters we need to cover and we have some shooters they need to cover so it's going to be a pretty evenly-matched game."
The Coyotes haven't played in nearly two weeks, so Slotsve is concerned with how the team will respond to the layoff.
"We were just saying, we had last week canceled on us (due to inclement weather). It's like the beginning of the season again," Slotsve said. "It's not that I'm not concerned about Mandan, but I want to see how we come out (after the layoff). Mandan's the team to beat in the state and the measuring stick for everybody, not just us."
But I like the sound of this latest commit. Evidently the staff was VERY high on him.
