Chevre is here, there and everywhere trying to get better

Grant McGinnis December 22, 2017 @ 03:15 PM

Some players do a great job of promoting themselves, while others work extremely hard to improve. Only a select few do both, including Zareia Chevre. The Tartan High School sophomore is everywhere. On Saturday, when most high school players take a well-deserved break from the basketball grind, Chevre will be going hard in a training session at Simley High School with Marcus Walker of Grindhouse Basketball. Walker is a trainer from Kansas City whose stable of clients includes Crissy Carr, at one time the premiere player in Minnesota's Class of 2018 before relocating to Kansas. Chevre first connected with Walker through another one of his prospects. "I started following him online and I looked at all of his videos," she said. "I met him here at another showcase and I told him 'I definitely want to work with you any time it's possible.' We exchanged information and we just started talking. I think what he does is very intense." Saturday's workout may be intense, but it will not be unfamiliar for Chevre. The 5'10" power forward has worked extremely hard to improve her game, and never misses a chance to get better. "It's an opportunity to get different coaching from different people from different backgrounds," she said. "Any exposure I can get, any workout I can get, I am definitely on top of that." That effort is paying off. Chevre is a big, strong, physical player who punishes opponents at both ends of the floor. A top 10 player in the Class of 2020, she is a mainstay on the elite Minnesota Fury 2020 Blue squad, and has played varsity at Tartan since the 8th grade. Chevre currently has scholarship offers from Montana State and Milwaukee, and there will no doubt be more to come. Tartan is off to a 5-2 start thanks in no small part to Chevre's improvement and the willingness of coach Justyn Burgess to let his best player do her thing. "We have a new coach this year and we are playing a different style. The atmosphere is great," said Chevre. "Not having a senior on the team, the coach looks to me to be a leader. He has given me the green light so that is definitely different." While Chevre has always contributed her share offensively, she hasn't been known as a prolific scorer but is averaging 20 ppg. In a recent encounter with Spring Lake Park, she put up an impressive 32 points. "That's my career high, for sure," she said. "My coach encourages me to go one-on-one, and take it to the hoop for the and-1, so most of my points came from free throws." Although she scores most often at the rim, Chevre also has a decent mid-range jumper. She's working on developing a three-point game but has a ways to go. Zareia comes in early most days to put up shots. On Sundays you'll find her at the local community center doing the same. Does she ever take a day off? "Not really," she said. "I am definitely working as hard as I can to get where I want to go." She'll be doing that again on Saturday. Walker's marketing materials offer participants these words of caution: "Warning: This will be a high-intensity session. Be ready to grind or do not come." Of course, some of that is marketing hype – Walker is rather adept at building his brand through social media where he has more than 50,000 followers – but his workout videos make it clear this is not your average day at the gym. Anyone, male or female, with $40 and a ball can participate at noon or 2 p.m. Walker is a legend in Kansas City basketball where he was known as "the Bullet." He had a nice collegiate career at Colorado State, and made a good living playing in Europe. Now he is focused on helping kids, including Chevre, get to the next level. She'll be there Saturday with her dad Jerry watching intently from the sidelines as usual. "My dad is my partner in crime," she said with a laugh. "He is so supportive. He has never missed a game, and I love him to death."