Voss leading GPAC in rebounds

• Jalen Voss

Dakota Wesleyan’s Jalen Voss (30) reaches for a ball that was knocked away from him during Wednesday’s game against Mount Marty at the Corn Palace. (Justin Rust/Republic)

Talk about it

Jalen Voss hears the importance of rebounding every day in practice.

The sophomore forward on the Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball team has 221 rebounds on the season, which leads the Great Plains Athletic Conference at 9.6 per game.

“Sometimes there are nights when it’s hard to score, but you can always go out and get rebounds,” said Voss, who averages a team-best 14 points per game.

DWU coach Shane Murphy was a late hire in 2010, allowing him time to pick up a few transfer players to help contribute for that season. After the Tigers made the national tournament in Murphy’s first year, Voss was the first freshman recruit Murphy landed for the next season.

“He committed to us the day after we found out we were in the national tournament,” Murphy said.

Voss was a successful rebounding force in Worthington, Minn., where he went to high school. He and his high school teammate, Mitch Weg — who’s now a 6-foot-7 forward at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn. — battled every day in practice to improve his boarding skills.

As a true freshman last year with the Tigers, Voss averaged 5.8 rebounds per game. In the offseason he lost about 25 pounds, making him more agile and helping his vertical to allow him to haul in more rebounds.

His season high is 15 this year in a loss at home against Dakota State, but he’s had double-digit rebounds in 14 of the team’s 23 games. Voss’ goal is to average 12 rebounds per game next year. He said there’s still room for improvement and needs to get better at “ball seeking.”

“He’s developed a mindset to really go after the basketball and that really makes great rebounders,” Murphy said. “He’s going to seek that thing off the rim no matter where it is, even if it’s out of his area.

“One thing about rebounding, it’s all about desire. If he keeps having the desire, the results will follow.”

Voss and the Tigers (11-12, 6-7 GPAC) hit the court at 4 p.m. today in a GPAC game against No. 12 Doane in Crete, Neb. The Tigers defeated Doane 75-72 in a game earlier this year at the Corn Palace. Voss had five rebounds, but the Tigers picked up their biggest win of the season to date, beating a team that was ranked No. 8 in the nation at the time.

Tags: sports, dwu, tigers, basketball, updates