ASHLAND — Joey Zahn has made the most of an unforeseen opportunity.
A redshirt freshman shooting guard at Ashland University, Zahn has become a regular in John Ellenwood’s rotation after AU’s ninth-year head coach was forced to shuffle the deck even before the season started.
Injuries to Nick Bapst and Jay Slone opened the door for Zahn and the 2016 Lexington graduate has taken full advantage. The 6-foot sharpshooter has appeared in all 12 games for the Eagles (9-3, 3-2 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), averaging 6.3 points a game.
“I was expecting to get my shot this year no matter what, but with Bapst and Slone going down I stepped into a lot bigger role and I’ve done my best with it,” Zahn said. “Anyone who knows me knows I play with confidence. I believe in myself and I always believed I could play at this level.”
Zahn scored a career-high 21 points in an 86-65 win over Davenport on Dec. 9. A week later, he scored 14 points in a 58-54 win at Tiffin.
For the season, Zahn is shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. In five GLIAC games, he is averaging 9.2 points a night while connecting on 51.7 percent of his field goal attempts and 51.9 percent of his treys.
“When I come in I’m a guy who stretches the floor,” Zahn said. “My job is to come in and be a knockdown shooter.”
Ellenwood didn’t anticipate such a significant role for Zahn this year, but Bapst suffered a scary heart-related incident in a preseason scrimmage at Findlay and Slone has been sidelined by a foot injury. Bapst’s career is likely over and Slone’s status is still up in the air.
“We had some unfortunate injuries and Joey has been that next guy up,” Ellenwood said. “An opportunity was presented to him and he’s done a great job of stepping into a new role. I couldn’t be any prouder of him.”
For area high school basketball fans, Zahn’s success comes as no surprise. He was the Ohio Cardinal Conference Player of the Year and an All-Ohio second team pick in 2016, leading Lex to a conference title and a berth in the Division II Sweet 16. The Minutemen fell to Ottawa-Glandorf in the regional semifinals.
Zahn scored 1,057 points and graduated as Lexington’s career leader in 3-pointers and free throw percentage. He also owns the program’s single-game assist record (13).
He arrived at AU in the fall of 2016 and red-shirted last year.
“He’s a very high-IQ player and he was well-coached in high school,” Ellenwood said. “The thing for Joey was adjusting to the strength and the speed of the (college) game.
“Sitting out a year, that always benefits guys. I know most of them don’t like that, but it benefits them from a physical maturity standpoint.”
Zahn agreed.
“In hindsight, I think red-shirting was really good for me,” Zahn said. “I’m not going to lie. It really sucked, but I don’t think I was going to play at all last year.
“Going against those guys in practice made me a lot better.”
With the return of senior forward Wendall Davis this winter, the Eagles should be in the hunt for the GLIAC title and a postseason berth. A fifth-year senior, Davis missed all of last season with an injury but has been selected as the GLIAC South Division Player of the Week four times already this season. He is fifth on AU’s career scoring list with 1,588 points and was a preseason All-American.
Without Davis, AU reached the GLIAC Tournament championship game last year before falling to Ferris State. The Eagles were 19-10 but did not earn a second straight invitation to the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament after falling in the opening round in 2016.
“We went to the conference championship game last year without Wendall. We have pretty high expectations,” Zahn said. “We’re trying to win the conference and get into the NCAA Tournament.
“The guys on this team, we dream big. We want to make a run in the NCAA Tournament and we’re taking the steps to get there.”
Coverage of Ashland University Eagles athletics is produced in partnership with OhioHealth, the official sports medicine provider for Ashland University.
