Welcome to the new season, Evan Nagler.
The Deerfield senior guard emphatically announced his return during the first round of the Mundelein Thanksgiving Tournament on Monday.
“It wasn’t something that just clicked today,” Nagler said. “It comes from months and months of preparation, hard work, always in the gym, always shooting. The months leading up to today is what got me going, not waking up this morning.”
Whatever the reason, Nagler may never play a better half of basketball. Beginning a season full of promise, the 6-foot-2 Case Western Reserve commit scored 24 points, making all five of his 3-point attempts, in the first half of the Warriors’ 68-33 win over Antioch.
In the second quarter alone, Nagler put up 16 points, five more than the Sequoits mustered in the half.
“Credit to him, when the shots were there, he was ready to take them,” Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick said. “I thought the kids did a really nice job realizing he was pretty hot, and they were looking for him and trying to set him up.”
That assessment covered only Nagler’s shooting. The third-year starter did a lot more.
Two of his three assists in the first half resulted in dunks by 6-8 senior forward Jake Pollack, a Dartmouth commit. The first was a no-look pass into the paint in transition, and the other was a pinpoint alley-oop lob that came seconds after Nagler blocked a shot on the other end. On Nagler’s third assist, he drove through the lane and found senior guard Ethan Weiner for a corner 3-pointer.
“We’ve been playing with each other since we were kids, and I know where he is all the time, and he knows where I’m going to be,” Pollack said of Nagler. “He found me a few times, and we got him open. He’s the best shooter in the state, and he hit a few.”
On the first possession of the second quarter, Nagler kept the ball alive on the defensive boards, and his tap was grabbed by junior guard Tommy Donahue. On the possession after Pollack’s second dunk, Nagler shook free in transition and delivered a soaring dunk over an Antioch defender.
“Sometimes I feel he doesn’t get the credit for the athlete he is,” McKendrick said. “He may not look like it, but man, he can get up and down. He can handle the ball, he’s super-skilled and he steadies our mindset.”
Pollack’s presence also is vital for the Warriors, whose 2024-25 season ended with a loss to eventual Class 3A state champion DePaul College Prep in a sectional final. He’s the focus of opponents’ scouting reports, and Nagler stands to benefit.
“My teammates are super unselfish,” Nagler said. “All five of us know that the order of hierarchy goes where Jake gets the most touches. Once teams hone in on Jake, it opens up everyone else. Today, it was me hitting them. Other days, it’ll be some other guys.”
Once coaches grade the film, it’s highly likely that Nagler will score well in the points-gathering system that accounts for intangibles that don’t appear in a box score.
“In our program, we track what we call ‘95% points,’ something we stole from the Oregon men’s basketball team,” Nagler said. “You only have the ball for 5% of the time when you’re on the court, so what are you doing the other 95%? How are you going to impact the game? Are you boxing out? Tipping a ball to teammates? Finding open teammates? All of those little things add up.”
Nagler noted the Warriors averaged about 110 such points in wins last season, but that number was closer to 80 in losses. That disparity helps create buy-in.
Not that Nagler needs any more motivation.
“I really wanted to commit before the season so I could focus on our team,” he said. “Our goal this year is to win the 3A state championship, and if I was thinking about recruiting before that, it would have been tough. So definitely a weight off my shoulders.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
