When the University of Saskatchewan called, Estevan Comprehensive School’s Jack McGeough answered.
Now the high school senior will spend the next few months getting ready to play for the Huskies men’s volleyball team starting in the 2019-20 season.
“They have a pretty new group of young guys there,” said McGeough, a 6’9” middle blocker who has been a member of the Elecs and the Southeast Giants in club volleyball in recent years. “They recently got a new coach there and I thought that would be a good thing. He’s pretty experienced.”
"Jack is a physical presence that will be a pivotal piece of our future," said Huskies coach Nathan Bennett in a news release. "I am excited that he has decided to join the Huskies and I look forward to working with him over the next five years."
McGeough has been a member of the U18 and U17 Saskatchewan provincial teams.
Getting into those teams and playing and practising with them, plus the additional club time, has helped McGeough get better.
Getting to the next level for McGeough will see him hitting the weight room to improve some strength in his core.
“I’ve got to put on some weight and gain a lot more strength to get on the other guys’ levels,” said McGeough. “A lot of them are a lot heavier and a lot stronger.”
With his natural height and vertical leap, McGeough excels at blocking, making him a natural fit for the position.
“As a tall guy, I jump decently,” he said. “There’s been a lot more hitting with middles in volleyball recently. That’s been pretty helpful for me but the main thing is going to be blocking.”
While he will naturally get a lot of blocks as a middle, it’s normally the left side or sometimes the right side that will get the bulk of the kill attempts in any given game. McGeough says he’s best at hitting the fifty-ball in the middle – a type of hit where the middle jumps before the setter sets directly to the middle.
“I get really high up to where I can really hit it to wherever I want in the core,” he said. “That’s where I’m most effective. I could do that (switch to left side) but I’d say I’m better in the middle and that’s where I have a chance of going further.”
McGeough will take a four-year business program over five years and then he’d like to play professionally in Europe.
“My coach (Bennett), he also played middle and then he played pro Europe,” said McGeough. “And then Mr. (Nathan) Johnson, my high school coach, he played pro in Europe for a year. I think maybe if I get good enough I can play there.”
