Gholson to play Drake basketball

Multi-sport athletes are sought by college coaches no matter which sport they are coaching. Newton High senior Connor Gholson fits the bill — basketball, baseball and track.

Gholson never really wavered from his dream of playing basketball for a NCAA Division I college program. His dream became a reality last week when he accepted a preferred walk-on offer from Drake University in Des Moines.

“It’s always been my dream since I was a little kid to play Division I basketball. I really love the school and I love the campus,” Gholson said Friday when he made the official announcement. “When the preferred walk-on spot was offered, I couldn’t pass it up. To be able to play close to home and my family and friends can come and watch.”

Newton High’s all-time leading scorer will be playing for Niko Medved, who was introduced as the new Drake head coach March 26 after a four-year head coaching stint at Furman University at Greenville, S.C. Medved was the 2017 Southern Conference Coach of the Year as the Furman went 23-12.

The Drake Bulldogs are coming off a 7-24 season, going 5-13 in Missouri Valley Conference action. Medved revitalized the Furman program, taking over a seven-win team in 2013 and progressing to nine, 11, 19, and 23 wins in successive seasons.

“With the new coach coming in, there’s going to be a culture change for the basketball program. I went through that here the past two years with Coach Liley. I think I can bring a spark to the Drake team,” Gholson said.

Gholson, a 6-foot-3 inch guard, has a shooting range from half-court in. He has the quickness to put the ball on the court and drive to the basket.

Gholson wrote his name in the Newton High record book in several categories after playing four years of varsity basketball for the Cardinals. The big one is he became the Cardinals’ all-time leading scorer with 1,395 points.

Gholson is leaving the basketball court as one of three Newton High School basketball players to score more than 1,000 points in his career.

Gholson took over the top spot in career scoring from Tyler Wood, who had 1,076 points (2014-17) and also passed Curt Greeley, who scored 1,020 points (2003-2006). Gholson moved past Wood as the most prolific shooter from 3-point field goal range in Newton history.

Gholson drained 79-of-204 3-point field goals his senior season, which led Class 4A and put him atop of the NHS most 3-point field goals made in a season list. He also holds the No. 4 spot on that list with 67 made 3-pointers as a junior in 2016. Wood hit 75 threes in 2014 and 71 in 2015.

Gholson is No. 1 in career 3-point field goals made for Newton with 229 to Wood’s 223. Gholson hit 229-of-635 for his career for 36 percent from outside the 3-point arc.

“My ability to score the ball is really a big factor in this opportunity at Drake,” Gholson said. “I’ve worked on my shooting from the beginning, knowing I wasn’t the type of player to really go inside and bang around with the bigger kids in the paint. I just keep moving back to increase my range.”

Gholson said he is comfortable shooting the ball from about eight to nine feet behind the 3-point line (19 feet, 9 inches).

“I can score the ball in many ways — driving to the hoop, hitting the tough pull-up jumper, shoot off the dribble and catch and shoot. If you leave me open, I’m going to shoot the 3. I’m also a better passer than people give me credit for. I play decent defense, but it is the big thing I need to work on going forward,” Gholson said.

Gholson helped Newton earn the program’s first trip to a state basketball tournament in 25 years at the end of February. The Cardinals, coached by Bill Liley, played in the 2017 Class 4A state tournament on March 8 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

With Gholson leading the way, the Cardinals went 19-6 this season, which was the best record by a Newton team since the 1964 state championship run of 23-3. The Cardinals pushed the eventual 4A champion Iowa City West the hardest at the state tournament, losing 57-51 in the opening round game.

Gholson plans to major in business and Drake has a strong business curriculum. He is the son of Troyt and Karla Gholson of Newton.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com