Kyle Von Schmidt-Pauli prepares for his senior season with high hopes
From junior varsity freshman to being a key guy on varsity last year, what does VSP expect for this upcoming basketball season?
By Conrad Engstrom | Royal Report
Kyle Von Schmidt-Pauli smiles walking into the locker room with his phone in hand. He prepares with the rest of the men’s basketball team for the first day of practice.
“Who’s ready boys?” he says.
Von Schmidt-Pauli, a senior at Bethel University, has been involved in FCA, BBEA, Welcome Week and SRC work but the one activity that brought him to Bethel was basketball.
“Basketball was definitely a big factor,” Von Schmidt-Pauli said. “I knew Bethel was an option because my sister went to Bethel and my parents encouraged Bethel. Then in my senior year of high school the basketball coaches were at every home game and at the end of the season I decided to commit to Bethel.”
Basketball is not the only reason why people know Von Schmidt-Pauli’s name around campus. As a business major he got involved with BBEA.
“I knew that early on as an underclassman I wanted to get involved as much as possible because I knew Bethel had a lot to offer and I wanted to meet more people here,” Von Schmidt-Pauli said.
Sophomore year Von Schmidt-Pauli joined Welcome Week and he has been a part of it ever since.
As a junior last year Von Schmidt-Pauli averaged less than nine points a game, about 4 rebounds a game, shot 45 percent from three, and started in all 28 games for the Royals.
Von Schmidt-Pauli was recruited by former men’s basketball head coach Jeff Westlund who was fired after the 2012 season and was replaced by current head coach Doug Novak. His freshman year he did not see much varsity time. He primarily played on the junior varsity squad who was then coached by Jed Moseman who is now a varsity assistant under head coach Doug Novak.
“As a freshman, he was a good athlete who was able to do most of his damage on the inside. Before his sophomore year, he worked hard to improve his dribbling and pass skills, this allowed him to make better decisions in game.” — Jed Moseman, assistant coach
Moseman speaks highly of Von Schmidt-Pauli and how much he has improved from being on junior varsity as a freshman, into becoming one of the more valuable players for the varsity last season.
“As a freshman, he was a good athlete who was able to do most of his damage on the inside,” Moseman said. “Before his sophomore year, he worked hard to improve his dribbling and pass skills, this allowed him to make better decisions in game.
“Going into his junior year, he worked to improve his perimeter shooting. He went from low-30s from three to shooting mid-40s. If our conference gave a most improved award, he would have been a favorite to win it. As his skills have grown so has his confidence.”
“Expectations are super high with last year making it to the MIAC conference championship game. A goal is to get back to that game and be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. We feel like we can put together a complete season.” — Kyle Von Schmidt-Pauli, Bethel forward
When talking about this upcoming season Von Schmidt-Pauli has high hopes having been so close last season.
“Expectations are super high with last year making it to the MIAC conference championship game,” Von Schmidt-Pauli said. “A goal is to get back to that game and be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. We feel like we can put together a complete season.”
When Von Schmidt-Pauli talks about the upcoming 2016 men’s basketball team, and the experience the team has, he does the one thing that he always seems to do. Smile.
