Following a weekend tournament down in nearby Spartanburg, Holy Family Catholic (Victoria, MN.) power forward Boden Kapke made his way to Clemson’s campus for an unofficial visit.
He didn’t really think that an offer would be coming his way, in fact, the 6-foot-11, 230-pound junior in the class of 2023, was just excited to see what Clemson had to offer.
Shortly after receiving an offer from Clemson while he was on campus, he spoke with The Clemson Insider in a phone interview.
“I was really excited,” Kapke said. “We talked for a really long time. We had some good questions and he had some great answers. We just liked what he had to say and we liked what their program has to offer.
“I loved the campus. It was a beautiful campus. I liked how you can just kind of walk everywhere there. We asked about what they liked to do offensively and (Coach Brownell) talked about that a lot. He said some really good things that we liked.”
Did anything stand out to him about his conversation with Brownell?
“One thing he said was being able to play on the move, which they like,” Kapke said, “and that’s something that I think that I can continue to improve on. Also, something that stood out was his values and the work ethic he likes and wants in his players. That kind of goes along with my family values, so that was something we liked.”
Kapke spent the majority of his time on campus Monday with director of recruiting Lucas McKay. Though, he did have an extensive conversation with Brownell that he mentioned prior and also had the chance to meet with assistant coach Dick Bender.
“Coach McKay has been in touch with me a lot,” he said, “We’ve been texting a lot. He showed us around a lot, which was really nice. I think we have a good relationship and I’m excited to grow that relationship.”
As far as his recruitment is concerned, Kapke said he’s still in the middle of evaluating all of his options. Earlier in the year, he made visits to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Iowa State and Loyola-Chicago. In addition to Clemson, Kapke currently holds offers from Wake Forest, Xavier and all of those programs mentioned, except Wisconsin.
With that being said, what are some of the more important factors that he’s looking for in a school at the next level?
“We got three things that are pretty important to us,” Kapke said. “We’re big on academics. We want it to be a strong academic school, but then we like obviously the basketball program, the fit and the coaches. And then like the college itself. If I didn’t play basketball, would I want to go to that college? Those are all important to us.”
Getting a better feel for Kapke and his game, he’s someone who makes a living inside but can stretch the floor at times within the flow of the offense. He offers versatility with room to grow, as every now and then he can step up and hit a three when called upon.
And yes, he has watched PJ Hall.
“When I’ve watched Clemson’s games, that’s one player I liked,” he said. “I’d 100% agree that’s a way that they could see me play there and that’s someone that I see as a similar player to me.”
— Photo for this article courtesy of Boden Kapke.
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