He doesn't lead his team in scoring, but Zach Tarver (right), an athletic 6-5, 180

pound junior swingman from Portland (OR) Jesuit HS, has helped lead the Crusaders to

yet another Metro League title and Oregon State Tournament appearance with his

profiency in other phases of the game.

A two sport star - he also serves as a wide receiver on Jesuit's football team

- Tarver is a remarkable athletic specimen who not only has good strength, but

also good leaping ability. And although he doesn't put many points on the

board - he's averaged about seven points a game so far this year - he makes his

mark by contributing in other areas. If you want a good description of

Tarver's basketball game at this stage of his high school career, think of a

young Billy King - the former Duke forward in the late 80's and current

Philadelphia 76ers general manager. Tarver's specialty is defense, something

he takes great pride in. One of his roles is serving as the point man on

Jesuit's full-court press.

"I put pressure on the point guards as they bring the ball up the court," said

Tarver. "My job is to make sure they have to give the ball up."

In the halfcourt setting, Tarver often takes on the other team's top scorer,

and has the versatility to guard players in the paint (such as fellow junior 6-10 Sam Rayburn

of Sunset, who has committed to Cal) or on the perimeter (such as 5-10 junior James Loe of Hillsboro). His

footwork, long arms, quickness, and overall athleticism allow him to be a

defensive stopper for the Crusaders.

With younger brothers Josh, a 6-3 sophomore, and Seth, a 6-4 freshman, handling much of the scoring load for

Jesuit (along with Eastern Washington quarterback signee Chris Peerboom),

another one of Zach's jobs is to concentrate on crashing the offensive glass,

and when he doesn't finish off plays inside, he kicks it back out to his

teammates on the perimeter.

"Right now my role is to grab as many rebounds as I can and get it out to the

shooters," he said.

Last year, Tarver was a key bench contributor on a senior-laden team that made

it to the state finals. This year, he has moved into the starting lineup,

spending most of his time down on the baseline. He is still a work in progress

offensively as the majority of his points come off of putbacks or on the break.

And while he is an outstanding finisher around the hoop, he will need to

continue to develop more traditional perimeter skills by proving that he can

hit the mid-range shot consistently and improving his ball-handling. Also, the

comparison to former Blue Devil King is very valid in that Tarver is a

extremely poor free throw shooter, something he will definitely need to

correct. And while he is a tremendous defender, he needs to work on staying

out of foul trouble.

Tarver comes from an athletic family. In addition to his younger brothers, older brother Shon started at guard at UCLA in the early 90's. Sister

Taryn ran track at Oregon. And Dad, John Tarver, was a running back in the NFL

with New England and Philadelphia.

Based on his raw athleticism, his inate defensive ability, and his work ethic,

Tarver has drawn interest from several colleges. Marquette, Oregon, and

Washington are among the schools who have been in contact. Arizona State has

shown interest in his prowess on the gridiron. He would like to play both

sports at the next level.

Before he does that though, there is other business to attend to as Jesuit

would like to make up for last season's championship game loss. They enter the

tourney on a high note, having defeated Sunset on the road in the season

finale, a 65-64 overtime thriller.

"This was one win we wanted to get all year long," said Tarver. "This will

really boost our confidence up into the state tournament."

Jesuit plays its first game in the state tournament today, Tuesday, March 11.

Jed Tai is a Senior Writer for Hoopville.com