Haake becomes staple in starting lineup

When Northwest head coach Ben McCollum spent the off-season stockpiling his backcourt with athletic transfers, Kyle Haake took notice.

After starting the final 12 games as a junior, Haake quickly realized that he'd have to fight to regain his starting spot this year.

That gave him all the extra motivation he needed during pre-season workouts.

"Competition always helps people work harder, but also you got to know that they're your teammates," said Haake. "You don't want to have a bad attitude towards them, but yea they help you work harder."

While lacking the physical gifts of a DeAngelo Hailey or Bryston Williams, Haake, a 6-3, 190 pound guard, managed to beat out both players for a starting backcourt job and has held on to it every step of the way.

Proving to be an invaluable component onthis year's team, Haake is one of only three players to start all 16 games.

He's also averaging 23.0 minutes, second among backcourt players and more than he played last year with much less competition.

"He plays off people so well," said McCollum. "You don't necessarily play your three most talented players together. The reason begin is a lot of times it's hard for them to play together. Haake plays off of others and that makes him as effective as anyone. He's able to allow people to be themselves and then just get his buckets based off what they do and that's an important attribute to have on a quality team."

Haake's primarily role for the Bearcats is to knock down open three-pointers, and he does that as well as anyone in the MIAA.

Last year, he shot 42.7 percent from three and he's up over 40 percent again this year.

He ranks seventh in the MIAA in three-point percentage.

"He just works on his shot and takes good shots," said McCollum. "He does it the same way every time."

Haake benefits from playing alongside a point guard like DeShaun Cooper who can get into the lane at will, cause the defense to collapse and then kick it out to an open shooter.

That, along with post double-teams, are the main ways in which Haake get his points.

"DeShaun attracts a lot of attention, so he gets me open three's," said Haake. "Jake (Reinders) gets the ball, and they got to double down and he kicks it out. I can drive a close-out. To have those other players around, it gives me the opportunity to score."

This year, Haake has expanded his game to become more than just a three-point specialist.

He's added a pull-up jumper to his arsenal that he uses when defenders close out on him too hard.

Already, Haake has made more two-point baskets (29) than he did all of last year (27).

"I've gotten more comfortable since I've beenhere," said Haake. "I was more just a straight shooter, but now I've kind of gotten the freedom to do pull-up jumpers a lot more than anything else."

Haake is on track to have the best offensive season of his career.

He's currently the team's third leading scorer with 9.3 ppg, up more than two points a game over last year.

Haake already has eight double-figure scoring games, equaling the number he had last season. 

His season-high is 20 at Missouri Western when he was 6-9 from the field and 3-3 from three.

"I've been here four years," said Haake. "I kind of know the system. I'm one of the older guys now, so people have trust in me and I just kind of expect it."

McCollum isn't surprised by Haake's success this year either considering his attention to detail and heightened basketball IQ.

"He always knows the scouting reports," said McCollum. "He's always focused in a huddle. You can always count on at least one guy that knows what I just said and it will definitely be him. If I tell them we need to improve this, he'll certainly improve it and do his best to do that."

Haake formed his passion for basketball as a young kid growing up in Harlan, Iowa— a town of 5,200 located between Omaha, Neb. and Des Moines.

A large portion of his days as a teenager were consumed by pick-up-games and early morning shooting drills at the gym.

"There's not much to do, so a lot of summer nights we would be down on the playground and have games," said Haake. "A lot of mornings I would come in at 6:30 a.m., go the gym and shoot. Especially at our school, we had expectations for athletics, so a lot of time was put in."

Haake was a three-sport lettermen in high school, earning all-state honors in basketball and football.

He was a kicker for the football team and broke current Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff's school record by hitting a 50-yard field goal.

On the hardwood, he averaged 18 points per game as a senior and led his team to a second place finish at state.

Haake came to Northwest on a visit for football and was told by the coaching staff he'd have the opportunity to play both sports.

"That's what kind of sealed it for me,'" said Haake.

Haake tried the two-sport thing for a year before deciding to give up football and concentrate on basketball.

"Basketball has always been what I loved," said Haake. "I was so busy, so I had to pick one. I had to go with what I loved."

During his first two years at Northwest, Haake struggled to live up to his billing as a knock down shooter, leading to inconsistent playing time.

As a freshman, Haake appeared in 25 of 27 games off the bench and averaged 15 minutes. He shot 34.9 percent from the field and was 4-18 on three's.

During his sophomore year—McCollum's first as head coach—Haake's minutes actually decreased to 10.7 per game and so did his scoring average from 2.9 to 2.4.

It wasn't until late in his junior year that Haake became the dependable, rock-solid player that he is now.

He started the team's final 12 games and scored in double-figures  eight times, including a career-high 22 against Southwest Baptist.

Since being inserted into the starting lineup in last year's home game against Missouri Southern, Haake has started every game since.

Knowing he has the trust of the coaches at this point, Haake feels a lot less restrained out on the floor.

"I have more freedom to make a couple more mistakes," said Haake. "I feel like I can do a little extra."

That he has done.

Haake's contributions are a big reason why the Bearcats (13-3, 7-3) are sitting in a four-way tie for first place at the mid-way point of conference.

For Haake and the other two seniors, this season has been especially gratifying after three straight losing campaigns.

"From the beginning, I could tell our guys got a long so good," said Haake. "It's something I really haven't had in all my other years here. We really get along well and play well together."

With 10 games left in the year, it looks like the Bearcats will be in the hunt for a conference title until the bitter end. 

Same goes for Haake's status as a member of Northwest's starting five.

He's not going anywhere.