By Terry Mosher

Editor, Sports Paper

Two surgeries on the same knee in two years can wear on an athlete, even one as gifted on the basketball court as North Mason senior Brett Skogstad. His right knee, however, is better than it has been in a long time and Skogstad is ready to have a big year for the Bulldogs, one of the area teams expected to do well this season.

“My knee is great,” says Skogstad, a 6-0 point guard. “It feels like it’s 100 percent. It feels real good. It’s not hindering me now at all.”

Former Seattle Sonics doctor Richard Zorn performed the latest surgery on July 8, to once again repair the meniscus in the right knee. Before the surgery, Skogstad was told that it would be better if he didn’t play basketball.

“The doctor said he could take up running or biking,” Skogstad’s mother Linda Skogstad said.

When the Skogstads persisted, pointing out that Sonics’ players had the same operation and continued to play, the doctor reminded them that the Sonic players were earning million of dollars to play.

“The doctor said if you have constant pounding on your knees over the years then you are going to have arthritis,” Linda Skogstad said. “But Brett loves to play.”

So Skogstad is playing.

Skogstad had his first operation on the knee after April 2, 2008, right after his sophomore season. He was told that he could play after a short rehab, so he picked up the basketball again that spring and summer with Total Package Hoops.

“He was doing great the first week (back), but the second week he could hardly run up and down the court,” Linda Skogstad said. “We had to pull him out of play and he went back to the doctor. This time, we were not doing to do that. We were told to wait until we know it’s been totally healed.

“Brett was real patient. He was on crutches for a week or two. Funny thing is I had broken my foot and I had a wheel chair at the time. It was kind of convenient because he could use my wheel chair. We kind of split it.”

Skogstad, who plays for his father, Larry Skogstad, goes into the season with 1,187 career points in 69 games through three seasons. That’s an average of 17.2 points a game. If he has his first 500-point season, he could get close to fifth place all-time in West Sound career scoring by a high school player. Port Angeles’ James Madison, who went on to play at Cleveland State and at last report was coaching high school basketball in Cleveland, is fifth with 1,703 points and a career 20.8 points a game average.

He may want to have a big season because he missed the summer season with Total Package Hoops. That would have been prime time for him to be scouted by college coaches who use big summer tournaments that Total Package Hoops plays in to scour the ranks for soon-to-be seniors to recruit.

“He wasn’t able to do that (play), even much of the last two summers,” said Larry Skogstad. “Now that he has come back healthy, I really think he has renewed energy. He has been playing with lots of confidence. I look for him to have a very good year.”

Because this is his fourth and last year of high school, Skogstad says his passion for the game has increased and his work ethic, which always has been at a high level, has held steady, and maybe even gotten better.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger,” he says. “I’ve been lifting (weights) and have bulked up a lot. I feel I’m quicker and stronger, which is the man thing, as far as being a basketball player, I need to work on”

In size and built, Skogstad is a little like Kyle Erickson, who starred at North Kitsap before accepting a scholarship to play ball this year at the University of San Diego. Both players are slender in built. Skogstad is 155 pounds.

“I like to compare myself to him a little bit,” says Skogstad. “He’s very skilled, understands the game a lot and has a great shot. I have to get a little better to get where Kyle is as a player.”

Because he’s been missing from action most of the past two summers, Skogstad has a lot of catching up to do with college recruiters. Pacific Lutheran and Northwest College and community colleges are interested in him. That list may grow, especially if he has the big year he wants.

“I hope to hear from some more coaches as the year goes one,” he says. “I just need to show I can be a pretty good value at the next level. I want to play at the highest level I can get, but I will take whatever comes my way.”