Photo illustration by Travis Rosenau Madelia’s Ja’Sean Glover was named the All-Journal Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year unanimously on Thursday. Glover ended his career at Madelia as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder.

MADELIA — Six years ago, Ja’Sean Glover made his varsity debut midway through the season for Madelia. The nervous seventh-grader was smaller and not nearly as strong as anyone else on the court, but he had skills beyond his years that didn’t take long to emerge.

“I can remember it was way more physical,” Glover said of his seventh-grade year. “I was a little smaller, the game was a little physical and fast-paced, but I adjusted toward the end of that season.”

He said he felt he had to prove himself as a seventh-grader and he was also intimidated at the time.

“Definitely, there’s intimidation and me proving myself because I’m in seventh grade,” Glover said. “It’s like you gotta make sure you ball out, there’s no excuses and no time to be afraid, you just have to perform and do what you do best to help the team.”

Glover’s impact wasn’t huge that first year, but he gained confidence for his eighth-grade year and proved he belonged. Years later, Glover leaves Madelia High School as a six-year letterwinner, a five-time captain or co-captain, a four-time All-Valley Conference selection and a four-time All-Journal selection.

Glover finished the 2021-22 season averaging 30.2 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He’s the school’s all-time leader in points (3,119), rebounds (1,205) and he set the single-game school record with 60 points this year. He also had four games of 50 or more points in his career and 12 games of 40 or more.

Glover’s ability to get to the basket caused problems for teams for a long time. He was named the 2021-22 All-Journal Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year for his long list of accomplishments.

Glover wanted to make his senior year all about having fun and winning. However, the season got off to a rough start because of COVID issues at Madelia, so it took a while for the Blackhawks and Glover to get in full stride.

“It was just me just gradually having fun playing basketball,” Glover said. “To start my senior year, I just wanted to see how could I improve from my junior year to my senior year, at the end of every season I always wanted to progress.”

A player as gifted as Glover still had plenty of things to work on after his junior year. He played AAU basketball for the Southwest Minnesota Stars last summer and concentrated on becoming a better defender. He finished the season with 86 steals, or 2.9 per game.

“One of my coaches really honed in on defense and how it can dictate your offense, I just really focused on my defense and being able to be a two-way guard that can guard multiple positions,” Glover said.

The Blackhawks entered postseason play with a record of 12-14, hardly anything that stood out. But once the playoffs started, things changed.

March 4 in particular was a night that Glover celebrated a couple of milestones. The Blackhawks, who were seeded sixth in the Section 2A, South Subsection playoffs, opened the postseason with a victory over Cleveland in a 78-39 victory, the same night where Glover scored his 3,000th career point in front of a packed gym.

On a night where Glover not only hit the points milestone, he also celebrated his first career playoff victory in six years of varsity experience.

“On a personal level, it was great because my teammates knew that I was only 11 away from 3,000 and they were trying their best to make sure that I reached that milestone, it was great to see the city of Madelia come out and really support not only me and my milestone, but the team, it was great.

“It’s definitely great when you can see the whole community is out there to support you and I talked to my teammates and said, ‘If you’re not hooping for yourself or the team, you gotta come out and hoop for the city of Madelia. Our parents and fans are there rooting for us and they want to see us succeed.'”

At that point, the wins kept coming. After defeating the Clippers, Madelia traveled to No. 3 seed Springfield and pulled off the upset with a 66-59 win on March 8. Two days later in Lake Crystal, Mankato Loyola was the next victim as Madelia cruised to a lopsided 73-57 victory, earning a trip to the subsection finals the following week.

Unfortunately for Glover and his teammates, the run ended with an 83-59 loss to Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey at St. Peter. But it was a run and a season that Glover will never forget.

“It was great, the whole season, although it looks up and down, we were always preaching one game at a time,” Glover said. “We got hit with COVID protocol twice actually, so that threw out of whack on getting chemistry. But toward the end of the season, I just felt like things were starting to click and everybody knew their roles, it was all about winning and one possession at a time.”

Glover has formed a unique friendship and bond with his coach Jeff VanHee. The two speak highly of each other and their respect is mutual.

“Coach has done more than people realize,” Glover said. “He doesn’t get enough credit in what he did on a personal level. He’s more than a coach, he’s more than a friend, he’s helped me out with so much, he’s always there for me and that just shows his character.”

Now, Glover has a big decision to make. He’s going to have to make a decision on where he wants to play college basketball and at what level. He knows it’s going to be a difficult decision, but he’s held off on it because he wanted to enjoy his senior year of high school basketball.

“Right now it’s basically just weighing out my options and just trying to get my visits and see what colleges are available, with transfer portal it’s kind of hard for anything,” Glover said. “I’m just seeing whatever opportunity presents itself.”

He’s accomplished quite a bit in his days at Madelia. But he’s most proud of what he’s accomplished off the court.

“I’m happy that I motivated and inspired the youth,” Glover said. “The people that are coming up through the elementary and that practice their game and know who I am, that’s better than any other achievement I’d say.”