The College of Idaho will begin the cascade conference tournament Wednesday against Northwest. They enter the tournament as the number one seed has won 14 of their last 15 games. One key piece of that success has been senior Aziz Leeks.
"For me, I didn't look at it as a setback. I looked at it as it had to happen for me to get where I'm,” said Forward Aziz Leeks.
In his first year with the College of Idaho, Aziz Leeks tore his ACL and ended up missing his first season with the Coyotes but he didn't let that change the trajectory of his career in Caldwell.
"If I get thru this the right way and do everything that the therapist tells me to do in the end something special and amazing is going to happen," said Leeks.
Leeks battled back from injury and matured into a player that put up 13 double-doubles this season the most by a Coyote since 1995.
That high level of play has helped the Coyotes enter the Cascade Tournament with the number one seed and a 24-6 overall record. It's his ability under the basket that has made Leeks Mr. Clutch. He has 536 career rebounds and 81 career blocks which are 8th all-time in C of I history. Leeks has also been a threat in the dunk department as well.
"I feel like those are like momentum plays for us if you can get a big swat and if you can dunk it. We don't want to see a layup like and it's a big momentum shift it and gets everybody excited," said Leeks.
Who knows what the future holds, as Leeks has big goals of continuing to play hoops at the next level.
"Playing basketball as long as I can. I am interested in playing overseas.” said, Leeks.
"What a great opportunity to see another country and get a chance to get a paid vacation. Go over to Europe and then to Australia and some of those different places like South America where a number of our past players have gone on to play and are still continuing to play at the professional level," said Head Coach Scott Garson.
Leeks and the Yotes set a record for the most wins in the Cascade Conference this season. They hope that carries over Wednesday against Northwest who they already have beat twice before this season.
