---

Most Popular Stories

Dutch Harbor mourns captain Phil Harris

Pounds lost are cook's gain

As Grumman Goose vanishes, Akutan travel needs rise

Missiles, howling wind welcome sailors to Cape Town

Teens' on-the-air effort wins award

---

Published on February 4th, 2010

Samuelson is the king of King Cove

By VAN WILLIAMS

It's just a few minutes after his game and Jonny Samuelson is already on the court again.

A gym rat, indeed, Samuelson is showing off his incredible leaping ability in an impromptu dunk contest against himself. Normally just reaching the rim when you're 5-foot-10 is a victory, but this King Cove high-riser explodes off the ground like he's powered by a jetpack.

On this recent night in Anchorage he's bouncing the ball in front of the basket and then in one motion catching it and slamming it with one hand.

It's the kind of play you see on TV and a group of photographers line up to get a snapshot-one from a newspaper, two from his family and a random passerby who just appreciated the show.

All the while Samuelson is mugging it up for the cameras and seemingly having the time of his life, laughing, smiling and joking around.

"He probably spends four hours a day on basketball," said his coach Ralph Lindquist. "What you see is what you get. He's very genuine."

Samuelson's demeanor wasn't much different during a 58-53 victory over Lumen Christi. Despite playing what everybody from King Cove described as his worst performance of the year-he finished with "only" 22 points-Samuelson never stopped flashing his easygoing smile until the game got close and he turned more serious.

At crunch time he had a more driven look about him, but even then he still cracked a smile here and there. That's because for the most part Samuelson is who is no matter where he is.

"He's a real laidback kid, sort of goofy," said his older sister Jennifer. "He's always been real athletic. He's always been go, go, go. And he's always loved basketball."

She said the family has home videos of little Jonny shooting on a tike basket when he was just 2 years old.

"I had a basketball hoop in my room with a little Nerf ball growing up," said Samuelson, now 18.

These days he is dunking on a 10-foot rim.

More importantly, though, Samuelson has blossomed into one of the best high school players in Alaska as a two-time Class 1A all-state pick. This year the senior is a bona fide player-of-the-year candidate based on his head-shaking statistics that resemble something on a video game.

Consider this: He's had two games where he's scored more than 50 points and he's already collected four triple-doubles. He is averaging close to 35 points and 12 assists per game, although his ability to get double-digit rebounds and steals make him a quadruple-double threat.

Samuelson said he patterns his game after LeBron James. But Lindquist believes he plays more like Pete Maravich

Either way, he's damn good.

Two weeks ago Samuelson pumped in a career-high 55 points to go along with 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a 92-59 win.

"It was against our rivals from Sand Point," he said with a big grin. "I was pumped."

He is known as a scorer but he's probably a better playmaker because of his excellent court sense, anticipating where teammates will be often before they do. That's why some of them take passes off the side of the head sometimes.

"Some of the passes," Lindquist said, "there were a couple tonight and guys couldn't handle them, reminiscent of Maravich."

Showmanship

Samuelson, like Pistol Pete, has a little bit of showman in him. But he can back it up, too.

He had a couple ESPN-made moments against Lumen Christi, the first when he snared a rebound and slung the ball 65 feet over the defense and into the hands of teammate Cody Mack for a layup, and the second when he used his quick crossover dribble to sneak through a pack of defenders and score in a one-on-four situation.

Samuelson plays like a big-city kid living in a small town.

"We want the ball in his hands and really, we want the other team focusing on him. He's a 90-percent plus free-throw shooter. He's a great passer," Lindquist said.

"I'm not ashamed to say our offense is built around him, but he is not a one-man show. He's part of the offense and he wants other people to look good, too."

Samuelson has always been a team-first guy, his sister said.

"He's a real selfless player," Jennifer said. "We'll ask him, 'How many points did you have?' And he'll say, 'It doesn't matter. We won.' "

She said he gets that from family and the tight-knit community of King Cove. In a sense, he was born a T-Jack and raised to be team captain.

Samuelson comes from a line of former players, including some of his older cousins who were once King Cove captains themselves. He can remember going to games when he was still that kid shooting Nerf hoops, knowing one day he would represent the T-Jacks on the court.

"I was raised playing basketball against everybody, my whole family," he said. "My first cousins, the guys I grew up with. Three of my closest cousins have been team captains. They taught me a lot growing up."

This year Samuelson is one of only two seniors on the team, so it'll be him teaching younger players the ways of a T-Jack captain. One thing is for certain, they have a remarkable role model as a template.

Still, Samuelson isn't finished with basketball after high school.

"I'd like to play college ball," he said. "I want to go to flight school. Hopefully I can find a place."

Samuelson wants to stay in Alaska and Lindquist believes his star player could make the jump to college.

"One man's opinion, I think he can play with those guys," the coach said of UAA and UAF. "In fact, what I think is the better the people he plays with the better he's going to get. He wants to get better and he will."