CEDAR FALLS — Cedar Falls standout forward Chase Courbat announced his verbal commitment to Northern Iowa Wednesday night on Twitter.
Courbat, who’s entering his senior year at Cedar Falls, averaged 9.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for the Tigers as a junior — helping Cedar Falls to a third-place finish at the 2020 Class 4A state tournament.
The 6-foot 10-forward told The Gazette that a number of factors led to his decision to become a Panther.
“I’ve kind of had my heart set on that decision for a while. I was just wondering when to do it,” Courbat said. “I’ve been talking with the coaches a lot recently and I just decided now is the time to do it because they have every single thing that I’m looking for and there was no need to wait any longer.”
Courbat said coach Ben Jacobson’s philosophy and the program’s culture has always stuck out to him.
“Whenever I talk to (Jacobson) he always says the goal is to get better everyday and that’s something that I always look at because everyday you need to put in work,” Courbat said.
Courbat has played alongside a number of talented Cedar Falls teammates who have or are set to play college basketball, and while it’s likely he could redshirt his freshman year due to UNI’s frontcourt depth, he feels confident about a couple areas of his game translating to the next level immediately.
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“I’d say my defense and rim protection is what I’ve always prided myself on. Being able to defend multiple positions and defend the rim,” Courbat said. “I’d (also) say my running the floor. I can get down the court faster than most other bigs.”