Dec. 18--The fire burning inside Nick Rakocevic sometimes was a double-edged sword.
It was visible, his passion for the game, but so too were the bursts of emotion that may have prevented St. Joseph's multi-talented 6-foot-11 senior from consistent domination in the past.
He was still a vital piece to a state championship, the Class 3A title St. Joseph won with four seniors and Rakocevic in the starting lineup last season.
The plan was to parlay that success into becoming one of the nation's top recruits on the AAU circuit in the off-season. Instead, Rakocevic received a wake-up call that St. Joseph's entire program is benefiting from now.
Rakocevic's on-court demeanor has changed, and his game has reached a new level this season.
Coming off a 23-point, 23-rebound, 10-block triple-double in a 60-54 win against Orr on Saturday, Rakocevic is averaging 22 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots while leading the otherwise young Chargers to an 8-0 start.
"He has come around quite a bit," said Gene Pingatore, St. Joseph's 47th-year coach and the owner of a state-record 970 victories. "As he matures, and he is doing that right now, that is going to be a big boost. That is the only thing holding him back, and he has been taking care of that.
"I guess he didn't have a good experience this summer, and as a result everybody was ripping him. I told him you put yourself in that situation and you didn't handle it well. He understands that and now it is like, 'Hey, I'm going to show everybody I'm not as bad as everyone thought.'"
With a skill set that's increasingly valuable for big men on the next level, Rakocevic did not need a big summer to draw scholarship offers from Wisconsin, Indiana, Miami and Oklahoma.
What sets him apart on his current level has been his play in the post.
"Coach has been giving me freedom," Rakocevic said. "Against Orr I hit a couple mid-range shots and went 1-for-2 on 3-pointers. He wants me to make good decisions. If I have a good shot he gives me the freedom to play my game. But mostly it's been in the post and on the offensive glass."
"I'm not giving him a hard time because he's not doing it much," Pingatore said. "We want him around the basket a lot. He used to have a tendency to float outside. I think he understands now that when we're playing a smaller team we need him around the basket."
Consistency has been the biggest change. He's been a force all the time, on both ends of the floor. He's stayed out of foul trouble. And he's become not only a good teammate but the team leader.
"Coming into this year I knew I had to have a different approach," Rakocevic said. "We have a young team and I knew I couldn't talk to them the way we talked to each other last year when we had a bunch of three- and four-year players who were more comfortable with each other."
North Carolina has recently entered the picture as his decision to wait until after the season to make a decision is already bearing fruit.
Rakocevic said he hasn't shut down the process completely, but he is honoring Pingatore's wish to take his official visits once the season is over because, "Coach has done so much for me," Rakocevic said.
In one breath, Pingatore praised Rakocevic for being able to look in the mirror and make changes. With the next, "I'm going to continue to be on his case. He still has a lot of work to do. I don't want him to think it's over."
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
