Gavin O’Keefe draws a bead on the basket in a game last season. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
The O’Keefe family business is basketball, and business is good. Very good.
Coupeville High School junior Gavin O’Keefe is a hard-nosed hustler with a sweet shot, and a key member of a Wolf program on the rise. A team captain last year, he will be looked to for leadership and scoring both this season.
“He was a captain as a sophomore and he’ll be a captain until he’s a senior,” said Coupeville coach Anthony Smith. “He plays the game the way you want your kids to play. Very dedicated, no babysitting required.”
Which is hardly a surprise, since both his older brother (Kramer) and sister (Kendra) were Wolf stars, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to O’Keefe success on the hard court.
“Basketball has always been a part of my life; my dad played, my uncles played and my brother and sister all played for Coupeville,” O’Keefe said. “I started playing in first grade when my dad coached a parks and recreational team and I loved playing basketball so I stuck with it.”
A shooting guard who can also double as a point guard, O’Keefe is a gym rat. Put a basketball in his hands and he’s at peace with the world.
“I enjoy pretty much everything about basketball,” O’Keefe said. “I just love being out on the court and competing.
“I’ve always been a good shooter and passer, and being around basketball my whole life I know the sport pretty well,” he added. “This off-season I’ve worked really hard on improving my off-hand dribbling as well as gaining about eight pounds of muscle.”
He has his eyes set firmly on making a run at All-Conference honors this season (“I’ve put a lot of work in the off-season to be the player I know I can be”), but knows that team success will mean more than his just putting up some impressive individual stats.
“Just improving individually and gaining chemistry as a team (is my goal),” O’Keefe said. “Confidence is huge. When you come into a game thinking you’re going to lose it won’t get you anywhere; we got a lot of experience last year against some really good teams, so I think coming into this year we have a lot more confidence.
A skateboarder and skimboarder who enjoys history class (“There are a lot of interesting things that have happened in history, so it’s pretty cool”) and the “Pink Panther” and “Transformer” movies, O’Keefe need only look in the stands at any Wolf game to know he has a strong supporting cast.
Basketball is an O’Keefe family tradition, and they come out to cheer for the sweet-shooting guard who may one day be the best hoops player the family has produced.
“My parents have always been a big part of my life,” O’Keefe said. “They try to be at every event that I’m participating in. My dad was at every game last year home and away, so that says a lot about the support he has for me.”
Leave a Reply