Wingstop Player of the Week: Del Sol’s Spearman does ‘all the dirty work’

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Jonathan Spearman is a three-sport varsity athlete at Del Sol High School.

While he considers himself a football player first, he’s clearly a better basketball player. He might, in fact, be one of the best players in the Division I-A Sunrise League.

That’s because the 6-foot-2 forward brings a football-player mentality to the basketball court. He averages 13.2 rebounds per game, registering at least nine rebounds in all nine of the Dragons’ games. He’s our first Wingstop Player of the Week for the basketball season.

“He’s embraced the role of doing the dirty work. He cleans up the glass for us,” Del Sol coach Tyler Ehrke said. “Football really helps him in going to get the ball at its highest point. He has a knack for being where the ball comes down.”

Spearman was the Dragons’ sixth man last season as a sophomore, quickly becoming one of their most valuable players in the program’s best season. Del Sol, which opened in 2004, won its first playoff game last season.

This season, his role has changed.

Instead of taking a backseat to older players, including his brother, Noah Spearman, it’s Jonathan Spearman who is being counted on to be the Del Sol leader. Noah plays at a junior college in Washington.

“Coach told me I had to be a star. Be a leader,” Jonathan Spearman said.

Spearman has responded by scoring 13.2 points per game, including 24 points against Eldorado and 20 against Western. Last week against Boulder City, he had 17 points and 16 rebounds. And against Cimarron-Memorial, he had 22 rebounds.

Spearman, using that football-player mentality, is best when he aggressively takes the ball to the basket. His jump shot is still a work in progress, but he often hustles to grab missed shots for offensive rebounds. He has 43 offensive rebounds in nine games.

“He’s a high-energy, high-motor type of player. He goes hard all of the time,” Ehrke said.

Del Sol again expects to be a playoff qualifier.

That’s partially because most of its players, such as twins Malique and Myles Dunn, have been in the program multiple years. That consistency, especially at a school such as Del Sol, where half the battle is filling roster spots because of the transient nature of the school, speaks volumes to the type of program Ehrke has built.

“We have been able to keep a majority of our contributors,” Ehrke said.

That group is led by Spearman, who this spring will again be part of the Del Sol track team. Last year, he took sixth at the state meet in the high jump at 6 feet.

Wingstop provides its player of the week a $50 gift card.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21