Jarryn Bush is a power forward – with a heavy emphasis on the word power.
“He’s easily the strongest player I’ve ever coached,” Timberline High School boys basketball coach Allen Thomas said. “He’s without question the most physical player I’ve had on any of my teams. When he gets the ball down low, he can pretty much do whatever he wants.”
At 6-foot-2 and a solid 225 pounds, Bush is likely the strongest player whenever he steps out onto the court, but the fiercely competitive senior isn’t just brute strength. He’s that rare combination of size, speed, smarts and quickness with a drive to succeed.
“People see 6’2″ on the roster and think he’s undersized in terms of height,” Thomas said. “The other night we went against a team whose frontcourt was 6’6″, 6’5″ and 6’6″ and he outjumped all of them. He plays bigger than he actually is because he’s such a gifted athlete. He’s got that explosiveness.”
Bush is not only a leading scorer and rebounder for the Blazers, but the emotional spearhead on a squad that is attempting to defend their 4A Narrows League championship and make another trip to the playoffs this season.
“My first two years we had Donaven Dorsey (in the team leadership role). Last year we had Brandell Evans,” Bush said. “They were both pretty vocal. I do it more often now, but I still like to lead by example more than talk. If I don’t lead through my actions first, then my words won’t have much meaning.”
It’s a newer role for the soft-spoken Bush – one that he is growing more comfortable with as the year goes on, and one that Thomas believes will contribute greatly to his team’s success.
“It’s one thing for the coaches to constantly tell the players something. You need a player stepping up at times when things aren’t clicking,” Thomas said. “The team listens when Jarryn talks. He’s incredibly valuable during games, not just for his play, but all the other things he does. He’s such a competitor. I think that led to some frustrations for him when he was younger. His drive to win was just so strong that whenever things didn’t work out he’d get frustrated and it showed on the court. He’s matured so much over the years.”
It was during an early season game last year against league foe South Kitsap where Bush’s star was thrusted into the forefront.
That will happened after you score 31 points and haul down 18 rebounds – a feat Bush accomplished during the Blazers 74-56 rout of the Wolves.
“That was the game where the flip switched for him,” Thomas said. “The hustle he gives is really impressive. The kid wants to get every rebound.”
That’s a difference between Bush and most players, points aren’t the driving factor as he finds multiple ways to fill up a stat sheet.
“I don’t need to score. It can be the last guy on the bench getting the buckets and I wouldn’t care as long as we win,” Bush said. “I’m always going to play defense and rebound. If the scoring comes that’s fine, but I’m happy either way if we win.”
Thomas got his first look at Bush three years, prior to his arrival at Timberline, when the then-sixth grader attended one of his youth camps. Bush’s freshman year began on the C-team, but before season’s end Thomas had already bump him up to JV. It didn’t take long for him to make the jump after that to varsity.
“We knew he had the ability. He’s extremely coachable and focused,” Thomas said, “but what sets him apart is he has this unbelievable passion to win. He’s an emotional player. It’s that way for him in football. It’s that way with everything he does.”
Bush knows his collegiate future will center on football. A first-team all-Narrows League selection at outside linebacker this past season, Bush has already received an offer from Central Washington University to play in Ellensburg and has drawn interest from several Big Sky schools, including Montana.
“I am just keeping my options open right now,” Bush said about when he expects to decide on a college. “The main focus is on the basketball season. We have a lot of young players. This is their first year on varsity. We’ve been to the state playoffs the last three years, and that’s the goal again this year.”
And Bush will certainly be a main component in another Blazers postseason push.
“Jarryn is a big part of what we are trying to accomplish here,” Thomas said. “I want to be able to mix things up. I want to be able to slow things down and play a half-court game at times, but also get out and run at other times. He gives us a lot of flexibility.”
