Valley Senior Earns Area Player Of The Year Honors
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
AKRON – To those that have opposed Tanner Andrews in baseball, basketball or football, it may seem like he’s been suiting up for the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings for about a decade. The way Andrews sees it, however, the past four years have happened in the blink of an eye. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Andrews said last week when asked about his days at Valley winding down. “I haven’t really thought about it yet. It’s gone by so fast. It’s been really fun, all three sports, but it’s gone by really fast.” The ultra-athletic, 6-foot-3 Andrews has been a fixture in the varsity lineup in all three sports since he was freshman. With his All-State football career behind him, one in which he rewrote the school’s record books for receivers, Andrews is now on the cusp of playing his final game on the hardwood for Hall of Fame coach Bill Patrick. That moment will come sometime this month, as early as this week in Class 3A Sectional 21 at Wawasee High School or as far away as the state finals in Indianapolis. “I’m gonna miss basketball,” said Andrews, who has signed his letter-of-intent to play baseball for the Purdue Boilermakers. “I’m gonna miss Coach Patrick. I almost gave up basketball after my freshman year so that I could focus on the other two sports. I’m glad I didn’t. I would really regret that. Basketball has been fun. Playing for Coach Patrick has been really fun.” Just as Andrews admits he’d miss his coach and teammates, they would certainly miss him and what he brings to the court. Andrews, the Times-Union Area Player of the Year, averages 16 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for the Vikings and has helped lead them to a 16-3 record and a second-straight 7-0 mark in the Three Rivers Conference. Andrews is efficient on offense, shooting nearly 60 percent from the field, and spearheads Valley’s defense with his length and athleticism. He leads the Vikings with an average of two steals per game. “He’s critical to our team,” said Patrick. “He scores a lot of points, does a great job rebounding, and he’s usually guarding the other team’s best player.” Earlier this season, Andrews became the sixth person in program history to top the 1,000-point mark for a career. Andrews scored 202 points as a freshman, 309 as a sophomore, 414 as a junior and has netted 290 points so far this season, taking his career total to 1,215. “He has a great attitude and he’s very coachable,” Patrick said of Andrews. “He’s so competitive. He doesn’t like to lose, whether it’s football, basketball or baseball. That may be his biggest asset, that he just doesn’t like to lose. “I think he would tell you that basketball isn’t his best sport,” added Patrick. “But when he plays basketball, he plays like it’s his only sport. That’s how dedicated he is. That’s how competitive he is.” On a cold winter day last week, Andrews was the first player in the gym after school. With the gym to himself, he shot warmup shots, and then took time to answer questions about his career. Andrews answered questions about anything and everything from his prep career at Valley to his future baseball career at Purdue University. He talked about – and gave enormous amounts of credit to – his coaches and teammates in all three sports. He talked about his family, his faith, and his friends at Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church. He’s been described by Athletic Director Duane Burkhart as “the most decorated athlete in Tippecanoe Valley history.” That description may lead to an ego for the average teenager, but not the well-grounded Andrews. As fierce as he is is competition, he’s just as humble and soft-spoken in conversation – an attractive quality considering the conversation was about him and all that he has achieved. “First off, I have to thank God for the ability to play sports,” said Andrews. “I’ve also been blessed to have great teammates and coaches. And my family has always supported me. My parents have always been there for me.” Asked how he’d like to be remembered, Andrews didn’t answer the question by talking about one of his highlight-reel catches for Jeff Shriver’s football team, or by talking about one of his breakaway dunks, or even a home run he’s hit. “When people think of me, I want them to say I was a leader and a great teammate,” said Andrews. “I don’t want the first thing people think of me is an athlete. I want to be remembered as a person. I want to be remembered as someone who worked hard for everything.”
