The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Higgins’ heart transcends his measurables at VASJ Senior leader picks up scholarship offer from Winthrop this week
Jerry Higgins left Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s gym deflated on Feb. 19.
The Vikings lost in double overtime, 76-71, to Cornerstone Christian. Higgins fouled out in the first overtime and finished with 12 points — half his average entering the game.
On top of the loss, coaches from multiple colleges were in attendance to watch Higgins play.
“It was tough,” Higgins said. “We should’ve won. I didn’t play how I wanted to play.”
If the Vikings lost, coach Babe Kwasniak hoped his senior point guard would at least head home with a scholarship offer in tow.
Higgins received no offer that night, but he didn’t need to wait long.
Before VASJ’s game Feb. 20 against John Hay, Higgins heard from Winthrop’s coaching staff.
The Eagles coaches visited Higgins during open gyms in October and were on hand for the Vikings’ game against the Patriots.
Higgins’ 12 points and eight assists weren’t his best stat line of the season.
But Winthrop’s coaches also tracked “positive stats” — how many times a player communicates on defense or pats a teammate on the back in encouragement.
In those categories, as he is every game, Higgins was off the charts. And the Eagles offered Higgins a scholarship the next afternoon.
Wherever Higgins ends up, Kwasniak knows the coach of his point guard’s future college will reflect fondly on the day he offered Higgins a scholarship.
“There’s just no doubt in my military mind that they won’t regret it,” Kwasniak said. “His floor, at a bare minimum he’s going to be a team captain by his time as a senior, at a bare minimum.”
Higgins added the Winthrop offer to the one he picked up from Army last summer. He has offers from a handful of Division II schools and interest from a number of other D-I programs.
“It’s been stressful,” Higgins said. “I just try to always perform knowing I’ve got people watching. I’ve just got to do what got me here, honestly. It is nervewracking sometimes.”
Higgins’ senior season has vaulted him into VASJ’s pantheon. He surpassed the 1,000-point threshold earlier this season. On Feb. 21, Higgins’ six points upped his season total to 497 and moved him past Carlton Bragg for the second-highest scoring season in program history. Clark Kellogg holds the Vikings’ single-season scoring record.
Higgins’ 1,333 career points stand as the fifthmost in program history. Depending on how long VASJ’s postseason lasts and how much he scores, Higgins could potentially pass David Lighty’s 1,370 career points and Bragg’s 1,497 points.
Higgins leads VASJ in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. Kellogg was the last player to lead the Vikings in the four categories for a season.
Higgins has won 83 games in a VASJ uniform. Three wins in the playoffs would vault him past Parker’s 85 career wins to become the Vikings’ all-time winningest player.
Higgins begins his final OHSAA state tournament run 20-1 in the state tournament.
Kwasniak’s learned any concern of a college coach about Higgins’ height or outside shooting is invalid because of his work in those 21 games.
“They don’t have a metric for measuring a guy’s heart,” Kwasniak said. “You can measure his size but you can’t measure his left ventricle. He has the biggest heart of any kid I’ve ever coached. He’ll be fine. He’ll end up where he’s supposed to end up. I’m fully confident in that.”
Higgins hasn’t yet begun to think about his legacy at VASJ. He hopes there will be seven more games between the Vikings’ win over Lincoln West Feb. 21 and the final time he wears a VASJ uniform.
One thing he’s sure to remember is his senior night. Higgins scored only six points and logged his fewest minutes of the season.
Fellow seniors Isaiah Gary, Anthony DiNunzio, Stefan Weems and Delanoe Harris joined Higgins in the starting lineup. Team managers Adam Stauffer and Collin Green were included in the Vikings’ pregame senior night recognition.
All Higgins wanted was to let them step into the spotlight.
Gary scored a careerhigh 16 points and Weems finished with a career-high nine. DiNunzio added seven and Harris scored three.
The night’s loudest cheers arose midway through the fourth quarter. Green, who last played on VASJ’s freshman team, traded in his blazer and tie for one of the Vikings’ home white uniforms.
Green punctuated the end of VASJ’s season with a layup and 3-pointer in the final minutes. VASJ’s players and fans mobbed him at midcourt after the final buzzer sounded.
“It meant the world to me,” Higgins said. “He does so much for us, just all the time. He practiced with us for the last week and it was so funny seeing him out there, I was just hoping he would get one.”