Eric Geddes and Vincent Yukich share similar stories in regards to their decision to come back for their senior season of basketball here at Garfield. Let’s investigate the seniors’ return and their plans moving on from the sport.
In a last minute decision, Eric Geddes decided to make his return to the basketball court for the 2023-24 season. After contributing to the varsity squad his freshman and sophomore years, the three sport athlete decided to take the basketball season off to focus mainly on baseball. At the time, he didn’t think a return to basketball was in the plans for the remainder of his high school career. However, after committing to Ohio Dominican University for baseball in October, his plans changed. Geddes came back to the court for one final ride.
After two years of development on the Garfield squad, Vincent Yukich decided varsity basketball was not the path for him and took a year off. Over this past summer, Yukich made the difficult decision to rejoin the basketball team for a final year. After committing to join the team early on for summer league play, Yukich was met with an inviting opportunity to head to Vermont for work during the first month of summer. It was a difficult decision for the senior, as leaving your friends and family as soon as school lets out is not a warming thought. He also wasn’t sure how missing summer league and still continuing to play basketball in the winter would work out. Despite the concerns, Yukich decided to take the opportunity, and it paid great dividends for him. He learned many skills of the trades and saved up some good money to get him through the busy months of fall. Yukich was uncertain what his future was with basketball, but decided to persist through and play for his senior season. For his parents, and for his love of the game.
Following the closure of the 2022-23 basketball season, and the graduation of three basketball seniors, the team for the upcoming year looked like it would have no seniors on the roster. Geddes and Yukich changed this when they decided to come back for one more year. Before the season began, the two took on a senior leadership role. Now that the season is almost over, Geddes says his role on the team is to keep the younger kids focused, teach defense, and just to lead by example with his seniority. Yukich holds a similar ideal, but mainly focuses on mentoring younger players through the teaching of high flying to get rebounds, taking charges, and making the hustle play. Geddes and Yukich recognized the amount of younger talent on the roster, and agreed that the team could seriously compete for the MVAC next year with the solid junior class and the athleticism of the underclassmen beneath them.
Both Geddes and Yukich recognized the basketball team’s struggles and growing pains this season. But still, both were confident that their team could get it together for a playoff run. “It’s been a downhill slope, but that’s how you pick up speed,” Geddes responded after I asked him about the playoff picture. Their optimism held up well, and the team upset a much higher seeded Lakeview Bulldogs team in the first round of the playoffs. Their run did not last for much longer after the upset though, as the G-Men could not play the role of the giant slayers, and bring down a very tough South Range squad.
In the spring, Geddes will play his fourth and final year of high school baseball. As Geddes is committed to a college for baseball already, I asked him how it felt to have no pressure heading into this spring of play. “It’s a great feeling to be able to play calm and relaxed this season, and to not have to think about any uncertainty for college plans.” Geddes is excited for the season to get underway, and is anxious to see how the team will respond to losing their whole outfield to graduation. Come summer, Geddes plans to work as well as train for baseball. He wants to shoot high and compete for a starting spot this fall on a league contending baseball team at Ohio Dominican in Columbus.
For Yukich, the spring brings on another, less expected return to a sport. Yukich plans to return to track and field to compete in jumping events. Yukich was a middle school standout for track, leading his team to a PTC Middle School title by means of a 4×4 win, securing the final points needed to clinch the victory. Yukich doesn’t plan to make the return to running, but admits that, “the future is uncertain in that regard.” The summer for Yukich means a lot of working, and hopefully, preparing to start his own business with electrical, plumbing, carpentry, and landscaping skills. Yukich plans to become a working-man straight out of high school and get right to making money.
The future is bright for these two seniors, and Garfield High School is lucky to have had them for 4 years.
