{"id":1158,"date":"2015-04-18T16:49:42","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T00:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=1158"},"modified":"2015-04-18T16:49:42","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T00:49:42","slug":"a-highlight-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/a-highlight-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"A highlight of success"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Jennifer Halley - Copy Editor<\/pre>\n
A looming 6 feet 6 inches and 260 pounds, Andrey Avgi \u2013 known by his friends, family and the Western community as Andy \u2013 catches anyone\u2019s attention as he walks through the door. He\u2019s used to people looking up at him and gawking at his height. But Avgi\u2019s height is not the only thing people notice about him.<\/p>\n
Avgi is an animal on the basketball court. He proved that during this year\u2019s basketball season, ending it strong as he became the only Wolf ever selected onto the NCAA All-American Basketball Team.<\/p>\n
This is something he is not used to people staring at him for.<\/p>\n
Simply put, being selected onto such a prestigious team \u201cfeels awesome,\u201d Avgi said. \u201cIt actually caught me by surprise,\u201d he added. \u201cI didn\u2019t think that I would be getting any other awards after my all-region awards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, he did. And he deserves every award he won. Avgi scored over 1,000 points this season, as well as being ranked third in GNAC for scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game. Additionally, he was ranked 10th in the conference for rebounding and third in field goal percentage, while also being named Player of the Year.
\nPretty impressive, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely couldn\u2019t have done it by myself; my teammates and coaching staff have the biggest part in my success,\u201d Avgi said. \u201cIt isn\u2019t just an individual award, even though only one person gets it. \u201c<\/p>\n
Another person he credits to his success? Girlfriend Dana Goularte, another one of Western\u2019s successful athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and Andy met our freshman year here and have dated for three years,\u201d Goularte said. \u201cI love watching him play and have such a successful season.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cIt was tough when we both were in season playing because we were busy and traveling but it was nice because we both understood the importance of putting in the time to our sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having a partner who is also deep in the basketball world helps this powerful pair not only stay on common ground, but \u201cshe knows what I am going through,\u201d Avgi said. \u201cI can talk to her about anything, and she would understand,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
No achievement comes without definitive struggle, though and for Avgi, he stared that monster in the face a number of times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a appendectomy that took me out for a week,\u201d he said. \u201cThat had to be the biggest struggle this year because it wasn\u2019t basketball related and I had no control of that. \u201c<\/p>\n
Staying healthy and tending to injuries \u2013 making sure they didn\u2019t get worse \u2013 were also some issues Avgi dealt with throughout the \u201clong, exhausting\u201d season.<\/p>\n
On the court, Avgi is serious, determined and focused on winning. Off the court?
\nHe\u2019s a normal 22-year-old from Woodburn, a lover of burritos and fishing, and is the youngest in a family of three boys.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may seem like he\u2019s a serious person on the floor but off the court, he is always joking around and is always making me laugh,\u201d Goularte said. \u201cHe is one of the kindest people I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cherene O\u2019Hara, a senior Communications major, echoed this when she said: \u201cYou get this really chill vibe [from him]; he seems really down to earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said Avgi would sit in the back of class, quietly saying \u201cthank you\u201d to everyone as they congratulated him on all his awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumble,\u201d O\u2019Hara added as an afterthought. \u201cHe\u2019s very humble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from friends, his girlfriend and coaches, family has been a huge influence on Avgi\u2019s basketball career so far, another group of people he gives credit to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would always watch my older brother John play when I was younger, and he was a big help in my development,\u201d he said. \u201cAlso, my mom is important because she would make sure I got to every practice and games. She would always be there for support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every athlete has their special ritual they do in order to prepare for the big game; for LaMarcus Aldridge: it\u2019s tossing talcum powder into the air at the scorers\u2019 table. For Avgi: he comes to the courts well before the game starts and gets a feel for the rims; it helps him get into the mindset of the night.<\/p>\n
And to help him stay motivated throughout all the stress, exhaustion and pressure of the season?<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate to lose in anything [and] I love to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seems pretty basic, but for a dedicated athlete like Avgi, staying motivated is the biggest factor in whether or not he does well.<\/p>\n
Basketball has ended. Avgi\u2019s drive has not.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will just train in the off season and get better for the next season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cJust a big thanks to all the fans and everyone that came to our games. It is nice to have a big following. We really do appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andy Avgi shares triumphs and struggles on and off the court<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":1133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}