Basketball journey nearing an end for Wedel

ORANGE CITY, Iowa — With the end of his collegiate basketball career within sight, former James Valley Christian standout Nathan Wedel is looking to go out with a bang.
Wedel and his teammates on the Northwestern College men’s basketball team are currently tied for 10th in the NAIA Div. II national rankings. The Red Raiders, who are 22-4, will face No. 17-ranked Dakota Wesleyan, which is 19-9, at 8 p.m. Today at the Corn Palace in Mitchell in its second to last game of the regular season.
Northwestern earned a 85-86 victory against the Tigers during a meeting on Jan. 10 in Orange City, but Wedel has learned to expect a battle each time he steps on the court.
“Being ranked towards the top is what every team wants, but it comes with its own challenges. Every night out you are going to get everyone’s best shot,” he said. “A lot of time it also feels like you have something to prove. It makes you bring a laser focus every night, because you could lose any night out to any team in our conference.”
The Red Raiders are looking to make a second straight trip to the NAIA Div. II National Tournament, which will be held this season at the Denny Sanford Premeier Center in Sioux Falls.
Looking back to the start of his collegiate career, Wedel and his teammates weren’t sure their future would ever include a national tournament appearance.
“Early on, things were a little rough, but we were able to grow through those pains. We have six seniors on the team and we have been through a lot together,” Wedel said. “To have been through all the tough times together early in our careers, and now to get to see all our hard work pay off, it’s a pretty good feeling.
“I would have to say this season has been my favorite, so far though,” he said. “With it being my senior year, I just have a different perspective of the game and I am just enjoying the team and the games so much more because I know its coming to the end.”

During Wedel’s freshman season, the Red Raiders went 14-14 and followed that with a 15-15 campaigh during his sophomore season. The team was able to turn the corner last season and finish 27-6 after reaching the second round of the NAIA National Tournament.
Wedel has been an integral part of the the team’s growth during the past four years according to coach Kris Korver, who is in his 18th season at the helm for the Northwestern men’s basketball program.
“Nathan has had a brilliant career. When Nathan arrived at Northwestern, we knew we had a very good athlete from a small school in South Dakota. We knew he was a winner and a champion. We knew he had been coached well and parented well,” Korver said. “We were hopeful he would mature and blossom into a good player for us. He certainly has become a good, good player for us!”
Korver pointed to Wedel’s work in the off season as a key component to the success he has experienced as a player the past two years.
“He has worked hard to improve in every way. He is stronger, quicker, more skilled, and more intelligent,” he said. “He has always been a handful for opposing coaches to deal with because of his strength and quickness.  Now, he has added a well-rounded skill set, an improved basketball IQ, and tons of experience to his arsenal. That makes for a pretty dangerous weapon.”
Wedel is averaging 21 points per game this season for the Red Raiders and has scored 1,767 during his career at Northwestern, which includes 117 games since taking the court as a freshman. He is currently 11th all-time in scoring at Northwestern and is close to cracking into the top 10 all-time with 748 rebounds, 398 assists and 160 steals.
“Nathan has some teammates who draw a lot of defensive attention out on the arc and this gives Nathan some room to work by penetrating and posting up,” Korver said. “He has improved his shooting, his mid-range game,  his ball handling, and his ability to use a ball screen. It has been fun to see him take the instruction from past coaches (Terry and Jon Schouten, Ben Miller, and Mike Vorwald to name a few) and absorb that information to grow his game.”
Wedel earned all-conference honorable mention as a freshman in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and was named to the second team as a sophomore and junior. He has been named the GPAC player of the week three times this season and earned NAIA national player of the week once this year.
“As I look back on my career here at Northwestern, it has honestly been everything I dreamt it could be,” Wedel said. “Coming in, all I wanted was to get to play, compete with my teammates, and to win a lot of games. That’s exactly what my experience has gotten to be.
“It’s been one of the best experiences of my life, and I owe all of that to the support of my coaches, my teammates and my family,” he said. “Playing games of basketball has helped me grow in ways that I could have never imagined, and I will always be grateful to coach Korver and Northwestern College for giving me the opportunity to play.”
The Red Raiders will close the regular season on Saturday at Doane (Neb.). Then open play in the GPAC Tournament of Feb. 21.
Following the completion of college, Wedel, who is the son of Brad and Helene Wedel of Yale, hopes to be employed in ag banking and/or return home to the family farm.

COURTESY OF NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE

Nathan Wedel puts up a shot for Northwestern College during a game against Dakota Wesleyan on Jan. 10 in Orange City, Iowa.

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