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SALT LAKE CITY — Being the new guy is never easy. And it’s often more difficult when you’re 5,500 miles away from home and the environment you’re used to is drastically different. But for freshman Jakob Poeltl, Utah has become home.
“It’s obviously different than home, but I still like it. I feel pretty good with everything, with the guys, with Salt Lake,” Poeltl said. “Basically living with the guys and playing with them, being around them, I’m really getting to know the guys and I feel like it’s almost like a big family.”
Following one professional season with the Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions in Austria, where he was named Rookie of the Year, Poeltl committed to the University of Utah over perennial powerhouse Arizona and California.
The 7-footer, who averaged 12.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game with the Lions, committed to Utah in April, saying Utah’s commitment to him early on won him over.
“(Utah) recruited me from the beginning,” Poeltl said. “They recruited me for the longest of all the colleges who contacted me. I really got to know them. It just felt right. And I really like the coaching staff and that’s what it was in the end.”
I feel like with his size and how good he can move I feel like he'll make a big impact. He just does everything you'd want in a big guy — rebounding, blocked shots. He just owns the paint.
–Jordan Loveridge
Although Poeltl has played basketball for most of his life, not really having an interest in playing the country’s most popular sport of soccer, he said he didn’t really know much about American college basketball, so it was difficult to judge the talent of each school recruiting him.
“I couldn’t really judge how good a team was going to be,” he said. “I tried to look it up online, but it’s not the same. It just felt right on the visit (to Utah). They came over to Austria and it felt like they really wanted me, so that’s why I came here.”
Now a month after joining his new team, Poeltl is having an impact on the coaching staff and his teammates.
“I feel like with his size and how good he can move I feel like he’ll make a big impact,” junior forward Jordan Loveridge said. “He just does everything you’d want in a big guy — rebounding, blocked shots. He just owns the paint.”
For many freshmen, the first year in college basketball includes a steep learning curve, according to Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak. But Krystkowiak said Poeltl has picked up the team’s playbook well and is learning his role quickly.
“He’s a kid from the beginning that we’ve almost got a chuckle out of it that seems to be a little ahead of the learning curve in terms of his ability to be able to learn things,” Krystkowiak said. “He’s getting more and more comfortable.”
For a seven-footer in his first year of American basketball, Poeltl is a traditional disrupter in the post, but is also mobile and quick for his size.
“He presents a challenge for a guy that’s bigger or heavier,” Loveridge said. “They’re not going to be able to keep up with him or move like he does. He’s so mobile and can do so many different things — he can jump, he can run — so it will be tough for guys even if they’re stronger.”
Although Poeltl joined the team as a lean 18-year-old, he’s already gained 15 pounds and looks to add more size. Krystkowiak said he hopes to see his size eventually become one of his strengths as the season progresses.
“Our strength staff is doing a good job with him,” Krystkowiak said. “He could be a guy that could easily be 255-260 and then maybe all of a sudden one of his weaknesses, which is his size, could be a strength.”
“It’s more about getting stronger than getting more weight,” Poeltl said. “I guess that comes with it, but that’s the main goal right now.”
Poeltl said he expects to have a big impact on the defensive side of the ball for the Runnin’ Utes this year, whether he’s a starter or a role player. But he said he’s also looking to have an impact on offense.
“I think the main goal in my first year — the main emphasis — has to be on defense, to be the lock-up guy, to take away the other big men, get blocks, get rebounds,” Poeltl said. “I also want to get involved on offense. I’m not the kind of guy that takes 15-20 shots a game, and I’m not expecting that. I just want to get a couple of post-ups per game and get a couple of shots up.”
