Cherry basketball’s Isaac Asuma talks decision to become a Golden Gopher

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This season Cherry Tigers junior point guard Isaac Asuma has averaged 21 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals per contest.

After leading the Tigers to a section title a year ago, received multiple offers by college teams like Iowa State, Nebraska and Iowa but chose to stay home and verbally became the first commitment for the 2024 class to the University of Minnesota.

“Throughout the process I was just waiting on the entire time of where I would want to go, in the end I took my official visit in February and after I was like, this is a place where I want to be. Having my family be able to watch me plus the vision that the coaches have for that program is just something I want to be a part of,” said Isaac.

The Gopher program has struggled to find a high-quality and true point guard in quite some time probably since Nate Mason.

However second year head coach Ben Johnson looked to change that. Watching Isaac play since last season, sitting court side in Williams Arena last March during his state run, along with the MBCA camp in June and even games this year.

“Coach Johnson’s put a lot of trust in me to be able to recruit me this hard. Saying that he wants me to come in and play one of the guard spots. I have to earn my minutes and I think I can earn minutes to get a good role on the team. He wants to start playing faster, like pushing the ball more, which I really like doing that and just being a solid defensive team,” Isaac continued.

To get into a prestigious school like Minnesota it takes more than just skill. Isaac is also currently a 4.0 student, bringing his 110% work ethic on and off the court.

“It’s awesome to see his success. He’s just been the hardest worker that I’ve been around for the last eight years. So to see everything kind of come to fruition for him is really neat. He’s someone that little kids look up to and he’s a role model for a lot of kids here. He does all the right things and he is just a good overall person,” claimed Cherry Head Coach Jordan Christianson.

Still Isaac is just a junior and has all of this post and next regular season to hone his game.

“They put the most faith in me and made me feel like this is going to be my home. This is where I want to be at when I’m older. My family, they support me through every step of the way so I’m thankful for them. My aunts, uncles and especially my parents, they’re always supporting me, checking up on me, seeing how I’m doing it which is nice,” concluded Isaac.

You can catch Isaac and the Cherry boys’ basketball team this Thursday in round 2 of the Section 7A Tournament against Floodwood, tip-off at home is at 6:00 p.m.