Kusmierek is from Lodz, Poland, and transferred to ISU in the fall 2010 semester from the University of Central Florida where he spent two years playing for the Knights. Due to NCAA transfer rules, he had to sit out this season, but he will play next season and have two years of eligibility remaining. The Bengal sat down with Kusmierek to talk about why he chose ISU, his goals for next season and being 7′ 4″
Bengal: How sick are you of being asked how tall you are?
Kusmierek: Well you kind of get used to it. You have to live with it and accept it and you have to have fun with it. You can’t fight with the whole world about it. You just have to be positive and nice. If someone is nice to you, you have to be nice back.
Bengal: What brought you to Pocatello from Orlando and Central Florida?
Kusmierek: Orlando was great. Great facilities and great gyms and I love my teammates, but I didn’t get enough playing time and I feel for me to improve and go to the next level, the professional level, I have to be playing. I felt like coach [Joe] O’Brien’s style of basketball involves a big man and that’s why I chose Idaho State.
Bengal: Speaking of after school is over, is your goal to go pro or is there something else you want to do?
Kusmierek: Hopefully I am going to be healthy enough to be a professional player either here in the United States, which is my dream, or in Europe or other parts of the world. I want to play basketball. With my sports management degree, after I finish playing professionally, I want to continue my career as a coach or trainer. I just want to continue to be involved in sports.
Kusmierek: My whole life in Poland I have been living in small towns so this is not a really big adjustment for me. Orlando was a big adjustment to get used to it, but I have been living in towns similar to Pocatello my whole life pretty much, so there is not too much change.
Bengal: Since you had to sit out this season because of the transfer rules, what did you want to work or improve on?
Kusmierek: Get faster, get stronger and work on my outside shot all while getting a feel of Coach O’Brien’s style of play.
Bengal: Going into next season you have two years of eligibility left. What do you hope to accomplish in your two years at ISU?
Kusmierek: To win the conference championship. That’s our main goal. That’s why we do conditioning, lift weights so hard, and that’s why we work out early in the morning, to try to get better and accomplish our goal and go to the NCAA tournament.
Source: The Bengal (since 1910, the independent voice of the ISU community) www.isubengal.com
Photos (author – Elizabeth Griffeath): Jakub Kusmierek , #45