File photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm Cathedral’s Jevan Wilfahrt has committed to play basketball at Gustavus Adolphus College.

NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral’s Jevan Wilfahrt has made his decision on where he will be playing basketball at the next level.

The Greyhounds’ all-time leading scorer will be attending Gustavus Adolphus College and playing basketball there next winter.

“What drove my decision was wanting to continue playing basketball at any division or level,” Wilfahrt said. “I just knew I wanted to play basketball after high school.”

Wilfahrt finished his career at Cathedral with 1,821 points, surpassing Jon Zinniel by 121 points for most in school history. Wilfahrt said that he had heard many recommendations about the program and environment that Gustavus supported from those around him.

“I wanted to go to Gustavus because of the connection I made with the coaches there,” Wilfahrt said. “And all the people I knew that went to Gustavus that I was really close with, they told me they had a good time at Gustavus and it was a good school. That’s what led me into that.”

Alan Woitas, Cathedral boys basketball head coach, was one Gustavus alumnus that helped Wilfahrt make his choice, as well as Chris Knowles, CHS alumnus and current Gustavus baseball player. Steve Gilles, Cathedral girls basketball assistant coach and Gustavus alumnus basketball player, was another name Wilfahrt mentioned.

“I knew a lot of guys that went there and said it was a great school, great program,” Wilfahrt said. “There’s usually all these great guys there.”

Wilfahrt said that he talked about what his role might be with the team in Year 1.

“We had a discussion, and they told me it’s up to me and how much time I want to put in and how hard I work and how I perform,” Wilfahrt said. “It’s in my ball field essentially, how I take it is where it will go. They have to see, ‘We need this area improved and we can help you with this,’ or ‘We don’t need this right now.’ They ultimately said it’s really up to me with how much time, energy and effort I put in is how much I will be contributing.”

Some of those areas Wilfahrt sees himself needing to improve are his physicality and shooting.

“I think for sure it’s a step up from high school physicality-wise,” he said. “It’s going to be stronger, bigger guys who are going to be more physical, which I kind of like to embrace. As well as I’ve got to work on shooting, especially. Aspects like that where all these other guys are doing it pretty well, so I’ve got to get up to their caliber.”

Wilfahrt will be taking his time improving early on in his career at Gustavus, but he wants to make a consistent impact for the team throughout his time there.

“I think for the short term, I just want to get better,” he said. “As much as I can, I want to get better and show them I can compete at that level and show everyone else that didn’t maybe think I could or weren’t looking at me. I want to show them that I can.

“Long term, I want to contribute and ultimately win the conference with them and contribute on their team every game.”

Gustavus has 10 conference championships in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, including one this past year. Wilfahrt said the team was headed in the right direction as far as team success and he wanted to be a part of that.

“I know coach [Justin] DeGrood, this is only his second or third year coaching there,” Wilfahrt said. “I can see he’s turning this program the right way. That’s what I feel like sparked that performance this previous season. It showed me that these guys and the coaches there, they’re on the right path and they’re here to win.”

Wilfahrt plans on studying construction management during his time at Gustavus, working on his passion for building and creating new things.