Doing It All
CHERRY TWP — During the football season for Moniteau, Ethan McDeavitt didn't have the first clue what he was doing.
“I put my pads on backward,” McDeavitt said, chuckling.
The senior, who has played just about every other sports at the school and outside of it, decided he would give football a try during his final year in high school.
He was electrifying as a wide receiver when he was healthy, but a knee injury derailed half his season.
When he returned for the final game, he admitted he was still in the dark about the finer points of football.
“I didn't know where to line up for the pass plays,” McDeavitt said. “I had to ask the younger guys for help.”
With his knee nearly 100 percent, McDeavitt hasn't had any problem figuring things out on the basketball court.
His scoring is down, but the Warriors' point guard is just fine with that.
He has seen a dramatic uptick in his ancillary statistics, making him one of the most dangerous players, not only in District 9 but in the state.
“He's close to averaging a triple-double,” said Moniteau coach Mike Jewart. “He's been unbelievable. He's getting a ton of steals and rebounds and assists.”
McDeavitt averaged 12.5 points per game last year as a junior. He's at 10 so far this year for the 5-2 Warriors, but he's become more of a facilitator by design.
This is one of the deeper Moniteau teams in recent seasons and the Warriors play an up-tempo style with McDeavitt and his blazing speed and quickness right smack in the middle of it — a perfect fit for him.
“I like playing this way more than scoring, honestly,” McDeavitt said. “Making my teammates better makes me feel better when I'm out on the floor. Last year, I was mainly a scorer and that made it hard to play defense and get rebounds while also running the main offense. With more people around me, it makes me better and it makes them better as well.”
Moniteau has five players averaging six or more points per game.
That balance has helped McDeavitt and the Warriors become a nightmare for opponents looking to form a plan of attack against them.“We're much more balanced scoring-wise,” Jewart said. “Any given night I have four or five guys who can get me eight, nine or 10 points.”Opponents also have a big problem containing McDeavitt, who is all business when handling the ball.Want glitz? Go to a Las Vegas show. Want the job done? Go to McDeavitt.“With a lot of point guards, you see them dancing around and doing a lot of fancy things with their dribble,” Jewart said. “He's not like that. He's a North-South player. Teams can't press us because they can't keep him in front of them.”Despite getting hurt while playing football this fall, McDeavitt said he never regretted the decision.“It was fun even though I only got to play five games or something like that,” McDeavitt said. “It was fun to be around the guys and it was something new for me to do.”To heal from the MCL sprain he suffered, McDeavitt had to rehab and rest for several weeks.That was a challenge because McDeavitt also was a member of the Moniteau golf team and was still going to basketball open gyms.“At one point I was playing three sports at the same time in the fall,” McDeavitt said. “I was going to two practices a day five to six days a week.”McDeavitt didn't let the knee stop him from golfing. He wore a balky brace on his knee, which got him some strange looks on the links.“It looked ridiculous,” McDeavitt said, laughing. “Literally every coach was like, 'What did you do? How did you do that?' I'd tell them it was because of football and they'd just shake their head like, 'What are you doing playing football when you're playing golf?'”McDeavitt, who also plays club soccer since Moniteau does not have a soccer team, was only going to kick for the Warriors this fall.That didn't last long.“Even the first week of practice I was like this receiver stuff is way more fun,” McDeavitt said, chuckling.McDeavitt is fining this basketball stuff fun as well.He thinks Moniteau is poised to improve on last year when the Warriors went 13-10 and lost to Brookville in the District 9 3A final.“We feel like we have a better opportunity with a more balanced team,” McDeavitt said. “We're a different team. We're faster and we can shoot better than in previous years. It makes it pretty exciting.”
