11 FCH Basketball Tryout 2
"Your turn."
Everyone looked at Lance as soon as Claude pointed at him. In the background, however, Fin suddenly smirked. Fin's teammate noticed this smirk and became interested in the participant who is about to introduce himself.
"I am Lance Peyn, Point Guard, 5-foot 7 inches (170cm)"
Claude noticed Lance's surname and teasingly said, "Wow! You share the same surname as legendary Michael Peyn! Are you his relative by any chance? Hehe."
Lance stiffened instantly as his lips could not help but wryly curl as he thought to himself, 'Actually, I am THAT legendary guy's one and only son.'
He did not say it out loud and remained silent. Actually, Lance doesn't really have any plan to disclose his relationship with his father to others. This is something he had long decided to keep it a secret as long as he can. For some reasons, he still felt guilty every time he thought of his father.
Claude nodded then pointed at another participant to introduce himself.
After a couple of introduction, Claude clapped his hands once and looked at his teammates.
"Is everything ready?" He asked while his teammates nodded in response.
"Alright, ears on me, please. Let us start the tryout!"
Claude instructed everyone to line up and pointed at the two Vertecs(1) being set up by the basketball club members. The first test seems to be about the participants' vertical jump.
"Wow, that's the first time I saw a real instrument used for vertical jumps. At my middle school, we don't have does kind of things and only used marked walls and chalks to get our vertical jump height. I wonder how high can I jump now? How about you Lance, are you curious?"
Lance nodded and looked at the Vertecs. All this time he does not have an inkling of an idea of how athletic can he be. He had always been too focused on his skills and forgot about his physical abilities.
"If you are wondering why we prepared this kind of test. THen ask our captain why."
Claude threw a glare at Fin who just responded with a waving hand.
"What? I think this kind of tryout is actually cool, plus, it looked like the participants are participating in a Combine right?"
Sigh, Claude just sighed and looked at the participants, When he saw them lining up in two behind the designated line he looked at his fellow club members who are ready to get the records.
As he nodded his head, he said, "Let's start! The first two participants, stand under the two Vertecs as the club members take your standing reach."
The first two reached out their hands up as high as they can while the club members took note of their standing reach. After a moment, they were instructed to jump as high as they can however they want. The catch is to display their maximum vertical jump.
Lance watches from the back of the line as the jumpers were given 5 attempts to jump as high as they can. His eyes landed on the participant who used the Vertec number 2 and was intrigued by the guy's athleticism.
When the guy jumped he reached a very high point. The club member responsible to take the record will announce the participant's vertical reach and jumping height.
"Next!"
The participant who jumped under the Vertec #1 finished his attempts. The club member announced the results, "Average vert of 17.5 inches (44.45cm) and can reach 8 feet and 11 inches. (2.72 m)"
"Vert of 17.5 inches? is that good?" The participant asked about his vertical jump and looked at Claude.
Claude nodded and said, "Yes, of course. It is the average vert for your age level."
"Does that mean it can still change?"
"Of course! You are still growing and still haven't grown more muscles so the chances of increasing your vertical jump height are high. Also, there are techniques that can maximize jumping power which can significantly improve your jump. All you have to do is to become diligent in improving your jump."
"Then I'll try improving."
Claude smiled as the one with 17.5-inch vert pumped both his fist.
"Whoaaaa!!!"
Claude turned his head to look at the commotion. He found that someone seemed to have jumped high. He looked at vanes on the Vertec and gasped.
"3rd attempt! With a standing reach of 7'11" (2.42m), and an average vertical jump of 32 inches! His jumping reach is 10-foot 7 inches (3.23m)! It's well over the 10-foot high rim!"
"Wow! He jumped so high!"
"Can he make a dunk?"
"I think so too! His jump is more than enough to touch the rim!"
"What was his name again?"
Claude was stunned by the result. He looked at the one who jumped and couldn't help but be amazed that there is such a high leaper on the campus.
"Prepare for your 4th attempt!"
Jonas Johanson nodded. He stepped back to prepare for his 4th attempt and begun to run towards Vertec while gaining momentum. Then, he suddenly planted his feet on the ground with his knees bent perfectly to maximize his jump.
Bang!
When he jumped, the sound of his feet pounding resounded in the closed door gymnasium and echoed for all the participants to see!
Whoosh!
He stretched his arm as high as he can and swung his hand towards the Vertec's vanes.
Thud!
When he landed he immediately looked at the record taker.
"No change!"
Jonas frustratedly exhaled. He looked at the vanes hanging out of the Vertec and thought of his fifth attempt.
Although Jonas felt frustrated, the spectator's does not feel the same. They could only gasp in amazement of Jonas' athleticism. It is not common to see such a high leaper after all.
Fin who was watching in the background disappointedly sighed. Actually, he was conflicted and confused about what to feel. He actually felt both glad and down-hearted not because he felt inferior but because he felt that it was not high enough when he thought of perverse physical prowess of Levi Becreux from Citadel State Highschool.
He could remember the guy's stats that he heard when he visited Levi's high school. Apparently, Levi who is still 16 already stood at 6-foot 8 inches (2.03m) is already so tall. But it does not end there, because, despite his enormous size, Becreux has a jumping power that can lift himself up for a whopping 36 inches (91.4cm) high. When he jumps, his hands can go up to 20 inches (51cm) above the rim! Making him the strongest blocker and defender of CSH.
His teammate who sat beside him noticed his reaction.
"Why the long face?"
"I just recalled how much of a monster the giant of CSH is."
"Ah... we were trampled at that time. He just blocked us left and right. We couldn't even score inside the paint when he is there."
Fin looked at Lance who is waiting in line from the distance and thought of how lucky they are to extend the game to a tie for 10 times when he first visited CSH. Then afterward, he returned to challenge them again with his teammates but failed to even score half the CSH's score in that practice game.
He looked at the tall first year with the height of 6-foot 11 inches (2.11m). Fin wondered how much the first year can fare against the CSH's Giant.
Bang!
Whoosh!
Thud!
Jonas made his 5th attempt and felt confident as he felt his hand hit the vanes of the Vertec.
"For 5th attempt! Jonas achieved 33 inches! (84cm)"
"WHOAAA!!!"
Jonas pumped his fist and cried out in satisfaction. "YES!!!"
The spectators were amazed once more by his impressive feat. Nathan who is in front of Lance even overreacted with his mouth wide open when he saw how high Jonas jumped!
Lance smiled as he felt thrilled when he imagined what it feels to play with impressive such teammates.
"It seems like, this basketball team is going to be more interesting than I thought."
