By Evin Caswell, Staff Writer
If you go to a Susquehanna men’s basketball game, make sure you sit where you can see the end of the bench. While most people come to the O.W. Houts Gymnasium to enjoy the game, they always seem to notice the lanky kid on the end of the bench.
John Kozinski is a 6’5” junior from West Chester, Pa. Before attending Susquehanna he went to high school at Bishop Shanahan outside of Philadelphia.
At Bishop Shanahan, Kozinski played football and basketball for all four years. While he did earn honorable mention all-conference for football, his love was basketball.
Kozinski started his high school basketball career on the JV team but was quickly moved to varsity by his sophomore year. The experience of playing JV taught Kozinski the value of hard work.
By Kozinski’s senior year he was starting for his varsity team and averaging more than 12 points per game, and even bringing home second-team all-conference.
After an outstanding senior year, Kozinski was on his way to play NCAA Division three basketball for Frank Marcinek at Susquehanna.
“I was really excited, it was my chance to play college basketball, which was something I’ve always wanted to do. I wanted to work hard and prove to everyone I deserved to be here,” Kozinski said.
His first season at Susquehanna was different than what he pictured, but that was not going to deter him, it was just going to make him work harder.
Kozinski went from being one of the best players on his high school team to riding the bench in his freshman year of college. While most people would just have given up and say they gave it their best shot, Kozinski didn’t.. This was just going to make him work harder and be the best he could be at his role.
“Everyone has a role and getting my guys to hype from the sideline is mine. When you buy into a winning system sometimes you have to make sacrifices… it comes with the territory,” Kozinski said.
Before games, Kozinski will come up with some sort of sketch that he will perform in the middle of the huddle after the starting lineups are announced. Sometimes he acts like he is in a boxing match or hitting a golf ball.
No matter what sketch he chooses, this is just one of the many ways that Kozinski embraces his role and helps to get his team ready before the game.
Kozinski just started his third season playing for the River Hawks, who were picked to finish second in their conference according to the coach’s preseason poll.
During his first two seasons, Kozinski only played in six games for a total of 12 minutes. But this does not seem to affect him at all. If anything it just made him work harder for his junior year.
Because Kozinski does not get many minutes throughout the season, he feels that his games are the practices. Kozinski is the captain of the “White Squad” (members of the team who don’t get minutes during the game) and takes his leadership role very seriously.
“I look forward to practice. I get to show everyone what I got and I get to compete and prove why I belong here,” Kozinski said.
He feels that the “White Squad”’s role is just as important as the starters. They are responsible for learning the other team’s offenses and preparing the starters for the upcoming games.
Kozinski is confident that Susquehanna’s basketball program is headed in the right direction, and he is happy to be apart of the program.
“The team is really young and we’re only going to get better, so I’m just happy to have a role in a winning program,” Kozinski said.
