This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The question seems obvious for Jakob Poeltl, but Austin Eastman was the one who had to voice it.
Watching his best friend hunched over studying for class, Eastman — a senior walk-on and mechanical engineering major — asked the 7-foot future millionaire: "Jakob, why are you doing school? You're going to the NBA."
The question can be an increasingly pressing one for one of the best players in college basketball. Presumed No. 1 overall 2016 NBA Draft pick Ben Simmons revealed in the last week that he wasn't really doing all that much in school. There's a chorus of critics about the NBA's one-and-done rule who chime in: "Why should he?" It all ties into a greater argument about the NCAA and whether it should be able to profit off amateur athletes who help generate billions of dollars.
For Poeltl, though, the answer to his friend's question was easy. He doesn't know if college sports works for everybody. But another year at Utah worked for him.
"He doesn't care that he doesn't have to try in school," Eastman said. "Everything he does, he wants to be successful. As long as he has to do it, he wants to be good at it."
In his sophomore year at Utah, Poeltl has found the success he desired, and college gave him the environment that he was comfortable in. As many basketball players with similar ability concentrate on rushing forward into the pros, Poeltl is content to drive his career at his own pace.
"It was definitely worth it," he said about sticking around an extra year. "Everything turned out how we planned it."
The decision
When he signed with the Utes in 2014, Poeltl anticipated a four-year college career. His parents, who work in finance-related fields in Vienna, Austria, wanted to make sure he had an education in case basketball didn't work out.
Basketball worked out much sooner than anyone expected: He enjoyed an all-freshman Pac-12 season, averaging 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds and being mentioned as a potential first-round NBA Draft pick.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak drew out a timeline and a plan for Poeltl: He would be able to attend skill camps and fly to Europe for Austrian national team duties during the summer. In the fall, he would build his strength and work on his post skills. During the season, he would be a focal point of the Ute offense, and potentially build his draft stock from top-30 to top-10.
Poeltl and his parents liked what they heard.
"I had a better picture of what things were going to look like," Poeltl said. Krystkowiak "actually followed through on all those things."
The coaching staff and the Utah faithful were relieved last April to hear Poeltl would return. But his roommates Kenneth Ogbe, Chris Reyes and Jake Connor probably were most unburdened by Poeltl's decision. Quipped Ogbe: "The rent went down. If he had gone to the NBA, we would've had to look for a new place to live."
But even before the word became official, they had a pretty good grasp of what Poeltl would choose to do.
Once last spring when Eastman and Poeltl were in a hot tub together at a friend's house, Eastman started imagining what Poeltl could buy with his first NBA contract. Five Lamborghinis, Eastman conservatively suggested.
Poeltl didn't seem engaged in the conversation. Eastman took it to mean that the NBA was a far-off thought for him.
"He's not really into money," Eastman said. "He cares about his parents and his sister. He cares about his friends. He cares about being good to people."
Comfortable in his skin
One of the hardest things about being a non-native English speaker: multiple choice.
When Poeltl first got enrolled at Utah, he spoke English fluently, but multiple choice questions made his head hurt. He found himself needing extra help translating.
"It's gotten easier," he said. "You do it more, you get used to it, you get better at it."
Only a few months away from the NBA Draft, when Poeltl is widely expected to be a lottery pick, he thinks he probably "could be a very good student" in school without his basketball responsibilities. He said that he sometimes procrastinates, but "I always somehow get my work done."
On the court, Poeltl also has gotten work done: His signature fist pump after a contested basket has a little more muscle to it. He's almost doubled his scoring output from his freshman year (17.6 points per game), and his player efficiency rating (31.8) is No. 7 in the country.
In winning Pac-12 player of the year, many pundits marveled at how much more polished Poeltl became in a year — a year of lifting, working out with Krystkowiak and other coaches, and developing aggression in the post.
"That staff did a great job with him," Pac-12 Networks analyst Kevin O'Neill said. "He got better every week."
The wins and the postseason awards speak for themselves. Poeltl said he had a goal to get Utah back in the NCAA Tournament, and he achieved it.
But off the court, another year has helped him adapt to living in the United States — the country where his professional future lies. While Poeltl's experience of America is mostly Salt Lake City, as well as the hotels and gyms in other Western towns, he's grown more comfortable speaking English, carrying on conversations with strangers who know who he is.
Eastman said Poeltl takes pictures and signs autographs to the point of holding up the team's schedule. He makes that kind of time for fans.
"He likes it here, too," Ogbe said. "Of course sometimes you miss home, and he does. You miss friends and food. But he was always comfortable here. Of course this year, he's even more comfortable."
As friendships back in Austria — separated by time zones and thousands of miles of land and ocean — become harder to maintain, having Ogbe to speak German with and who knows what it's like to leave another life behind helps Poeltl feel at home in his new country.
Poeltl speaks to his parents and sister at least every Sunday, and they message each other even more regularly. But he has appreciated the chance to live away from his family and experience some independence.
"You get more used to living in a different country, living in a different situation," he said. "I feel like I get better at that kind of stuff every day."
'Lifelong friends'
It's a good thing Poeltl can move his feet well on the court, Eastman said, because his singing needs work.
Poeltl joined Eastman and his family last Fourth of July at a cabin at Canyon Ferry Lake in Montana. It was a tricky fit for Poeltl, who missed a bit of the trip to play at LeBron James Skills Academy, but he made time to get up there.
For a few days, Poeltl blended in to Eastman's family, cruising on Jet Skis during the day and playing card games such as "Apples to Apples" by night (Poeltl sometimes struggles to understand American metaphors, "but he started getting it" Eastman said). One evening, Eastman and Poeltl belted out karaoke numbers with the family, singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
"They clapped for us, but they shouldn't have," Eastman said. "We were not good."
Poeltl counts it as one of his favorite memories in the year since he decided to come back. And camaraderie with his teammates and other friends in college factored into his decision.
In the last year, he's grown a larger social circle, befriending many of Eastman's acquaintances and a few students who camp out in the front rows at games. He's also grown relationships with other foreign-born athletes, such as Ute skiing star and fellow Austrian Veronika Mayerhofer, and occasionally the Europeans have a group dinner to chow down on kaese spaetzle or schnitzel.
But his teammates are particularly close to him, and they will be the hardest to leave behind when he eventually goes pro. Playing video games such as "Call of Duty" with Reyes, binge-watching "Friends" for the third or fourth time with Eastman, or chatting in German with Ogbe — he realizes that the NBA doesn't necessarily promise the same kind of bonds.
"He knows the NBA is a business," Eastman said. "You're paid to play with your teammates. They aren't always going to be your friends."
But his Utah teammates, Poeltl insisted, will always be his friends.
"The one thing I know I can count on is my teammates and coaches," he said. "That's probably the biggest thing that I'm going to take away from college: the second family I got here."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Jakob Poeltl
Height • 7-0 Weight • 248 Avg. pts. • 17.6 Avg. rebs. • 9.0 FG pct. • .656 Hometown • Vienna, Austria —
How well do you know Jakob?
Most Utah fans know that Jakob Poeltl is Utah scoring, rebounding and blocks leader, the Pac-12 player of the year and an All American. Here are some off-the-radar tidbits about the Utes' sophomore star:
• He's one of the most avid video game players on the team. He says he's the best on the team at "FIFA," but roommate Chris Reyes might be the best at "Call of Duty."
• His favorite TV show is "Friends." He's watched it over several times through, and he says he's most like the character Chandler.
• He's friends with fellow European athletes at Utah, including skiers Veronika Mayerhofer (Austria) and Natalia Muller (Switzerland). Twice or three times this year, they've gotten together for a European-style meal, most recently schnitzel.
• Poeltl can cook, but admits his skillset is limited. His roommates say his go-to dish is pasta, but he also enjoys making himself grilled cheese sandwiches.
• While enough well-wishers have geographically mixed up his origins between Austria and Australia, Poeltl really cringes when people mistake him for German. Says teammate Kenneth Ogbe: "I know it hurts him every time sometimes someone says German and Austrian."