After winning the CCS championship last season, the Palo Alto boys varsity basketball team was in need of new leadership. With the loss of last year’s senior star power forward Ryan Symes, coach Peter Diepenbrock has turned to junior Brian Baskauskas for help.

Averaging 12 points, 4 assists, and 5 rebounds last season as a sophomore, Baskauskas played an essential role in the well calculated equation of the Vikings’ offense. This season his team is going to rely on his good passing ability and most of all, his long range game. It is well known that Baskauskas has got a cannon from behind the three point arc, so coach Diepenbrock will use that as another weapon in his offensive arsenal.

Baskauskas is viewed as a natural leader by his teammates. “He is a great competitor and his will to win permeates through our team,” junior small forward Nathan Ford said.

The main attributes that a basketball leader must have are strength and smarts. Baskauskas is lacking neither, as the 6 foot 6 inch power forward is great at managing his time. He puts in countless hours at practice, in the weight room, and on the track pushing his body to the limit.

However, when Baskauskas gets home, he knows it is time to the hit the books. He has is an impressive student athlete, maintaining around a 3.6 GPA so far in his high school career. “I take pride in my school work because I put a lot into it,” Baskauskas said.

Baskauskas hopes to continue his basketball career in college, and with his size and ability there is a very good chance that he will.

When he is not polishing off his three pointers or doing schoolwork, Baskauskas hangs out with his friends and plays Madden 2004 on his X box.

Leading his team into the regular season with a 12-2 preseason record, Baskauskas is confident in his team and believes that they can do well in their challenging De Anza league.

“Our strengths are that we can shoot the ball well and that we have a lot of size, but we really need to work on our rebounding and breaking the pressure defense,” Baskauskas said.

The Vikings tip off their regular season on January 7 against Fremont at Palo Alto.