Logan Wessel spent last season as a reserve on a talented Mount Carmel team. He used that time to soak in as much knowledge as he could.
Wessel gravitated toward one teammate in particular. He found a heck of a player to look up to in Grant Best, who earned all-state honors as a senior last season and signed with Air Force.
“I like to model my game a little bit after Grant Best,” Wessel said. “He was like a role model for me. He’s such a good rebounder and I try to crash the boards as much as I can.
“He’s one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever met and I try to do as much as I can to keep getting better every day.”
Wessel is showing off all that he has learned. The junior guard continued his strong season Tuesday night, scoring 15 points to lead the host Caravan to a 68-36 win over St. Rita in a Catholic League crossover in Chicago.
DK Heard finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for Mount Carmel (14-5), while Ronald Johnson added nine points and nine rebounds and Luke Segroves chipped in with eight points.
Micheal Hampton III scored 11 points for St. Rita (7-12). Jayden Hawkins came through with 10 points and Eze Nwagwu pulled down six rebounds.
Wessel, meanwhile, knew there would be some weight on his shoulders this season. He has the most varsity experience of anyone on what is essentially a brand-new roster that features two freshmen — Heard and Johnson — and a sophomore, Marshaun Thornton, in prominent roles.
“I was definitely excited because this is what I’ve been wanting since my freshman year,” Wessel said. “But I was also a little nervous because I was asking, ‘What’s going to happen this season? We have a new team. How are things going to jell and stuff?’
“But I think we’re playing well now.”
The Caravan have won seven of their last eight games. The development of the freshmen has been a big part of that. But so has the consistent leadership and scoring provided by Wessel.
“Logan’s definitely a Division I player,” Luke Segroves said. “He’s probably our best player all around. I trust him very much. He’s a great leader. He’s very intense, he plays defense and he always tries his hardest.”
Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves, Luke’s dad, sees the same thing.
“I’m really proud of Logan,” Phil Segroves said. “He’s pound for pound one of the hardest workers on our team. He’s a Division I talent. He reminds me a lot of Grant Best.
“With his ability to shoot and his ability to lead, he’s taking on that role for us.”
Wessel scored 10 points in the first half Tuesday as Mount Carmel raced to a 16-2 lead and never looked back. It was 37-12 at halftime.
Wessel is becoming accustomed to being one of the guys counted on to carry the load.
“Being on varsity last year, I didn’t get as many reps as I wanted, but I put in a lot of work in the offseason and it’s starting to translate now,” he said.
Wessel’s basketball journey goes back to kindergarten, when his height got him noticed.
“I used to go to St. Thomas the Apostle, right down the street from Mount Carmel,” Wessel said. “I was watching basketball practice and the coach was like, ‘You’re tall. You should play basketball.’ I was like, ‘I guess so.’
“The rest is history.”
The sport stuck. Wessel used to play baseball but gave it up heading into high school. He also golfs for fun, but there’s no question where his heart is when it comes to athletics.
“With basketball, it’s just the love of the game,” he said. “I always like to work hard and I strive to try my best all the time. I’m really competitive and once I got into the sport, I fell in love with it.”