Metea Valley's undercover superstar
Kenny Obendorf's Metea Valley teammates gave him a nickname. He doesn't like it much.
“We jokingly call him ‘Superstar' because we know he'd never say that about himself and would never want that persona,” said Mustangs guard Ryan Solomon, who's known Obendorf since they were Naperville next-door neighbors, both still in diapers.
They call Obendorf that for something to think about other than rolling off screens to bury a 3, to distract him from making the perfect pass to a teammate with an open shot. To get in his head.
“I guess I'm more of a shy, reserved person, so it's a little uncomfortable for me,” Obendorf said. “As a team, though, I'm grateful for the attention that we're getting, that we're recognized for what we've accomplished.”
In two seasons playing varsity boys basketball under coach Bob Vozza, Metea has become an area power. Lifting intact the former starting five from Hill Middle School — Obendorf, Solomon, Milan Bojanic, TréSean Mackey and LaShawn Cargo — and infusing others such as Sean Davis, Shiv Desai and Raysean Parker, the Mustangs captured the title of the strong Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division.
Carrying a DuPage County-best 71-point average into the Class 4A playoffs, Metea then ratcheted up its defense to win a pair of grinders, scoring 45 points apiece in wins over physical, well-coached, fundamentally sound Geneva and Benet teams to reach the East Aurora sectional semifinals.
A team effort, for sure. But while Obendorf shirks any “Superstar” label, the 6-foot-2 senior guard has earned acclaim as Metea's alpha male.
“I just think Kenny has been our leader and our kind of go-to guy throughout our entire season, and obviously he's performed well,” Vozza said of Obendorf, the captain of the Daily Herald 2011-12 DuPage County Boys Basketball All-Area Team.
“You could tell right away how talented he was, but at the same time he was a player you want to coach,” said Vozza, who got this first class of seniors when Metea Valley opened in 2009. As Waubonsie Valley freshmen before the mass transfer to the Indian Prairie District 204 newcomer, Obendorf and Solomon helped Waubonsie's sophomore team win 24 games.
“He listens to you and he wants to get better and do the right thing,” Vozza said. “You tell him he made a mistake and he already knows he made the mistake. To be able to start a program with his talent level and at the same time with his intelligence and what it takes for teams to be successful, it's a great way to start a program.”
The foundation
Talent, intelligence, work ethic and coachability form a fine foundation on the basketball court, and at home. Obendorf's parents, Steve and Cheri, two accountants who met in their first job, obviously instilled those qualities in their three children — Kenny, Metea junior Lori and Kyle, a 2008 Waubonsie Valley graduate.
Waubonsie always seems to have an undersized post player who excels because of heart, guts and desire. Brandon Malby was that player this season; in 2008 it was Kyle Obendorf, now a senior at Notre Dame considering medical school.
His younger brother watched, listened and learned.
“Like me, he was always good in the classroom and he got his work done,” said Kenny Obendorf, a prospective Illinois or Notre Dame engineering student who is taking three Advanced Placement classes, plus a calculus class through the University of Illinois two years beyond standard senior levels. His grade-point average is 4.5 on a 4-point scale.
“On the court he was just a hard-nosed player who competed against guys that were bigger than him because he was undersized, and he had a lot of success. He showed me that desire, and what playing hard can do,” he said.
On the court Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer said comparing Kyle Obendorf the banger to Kenny Obendorf the marksman is like “comparing apples to oranges.”
“Kenny is more of a scorer and a shooter, but they're both from the same family, the same mold, and they've had success in different ways,” Weemer said. “Kenny's obviously a tremendous shooter, but he has the same core values he got from his parents and his brother. They work hard, they do the right things, they make the right choices.”
Obendorf, and Metea, gave early notice of what they'd become at the Joliet West Thanksgiving Tournament. Obendorf had three games of 20 points and a fourth of 16 to earn MVP honors for the 4-0 Mustangs.
He scored 22 points at Bartlett, 28 at Neuqua Valley, then averaged 22.3 points at the Hinsdale South Holiday Tournament to grab MVP honors there for still-unbeaten, 13-0 Metea.
Finally taking an overtime loss at Waubonsie Valley on Jan. 11, two games later Obendorf matched his season high of 28 points in a win over Rich Central. The Mustangs went on to go 10-2 in the UEC Valley, Obendorf earning the league's “special recognition,” or MVP, honor.
As of Metea Valley's regional title Obendorf averaged 17.2 points on 59 percent shooting, and grabbed 3 rebounds a game. Clearly a pure shooter, he made 66 3-pointers, hitting 54.5 percent beyond the arc. Obendorf got to the foul line more than any Mustang and made teams pay once there with an 80.8 percent average.
“He's always been a good shooter, but since he's been at Waubonsie Valley he's been immensely better,” said Solomon, the Mustangs' third co-captain with Obendorf and Cargo. “He's like automatic now. He's put a lot of work in and I give him a lot of credit on that.”
The grunt work
Vozza said the repeat All-Area pick does “the little things” that don't grab headlines, and his defense doesn't get the respect it should. Obendorf's picked up his vocal leadership, and in timeouts Vozza listens to his opinions on what tactics might and might not work.
As teams did more to shut down his perimeter scoring and got more physical against him, Obendorf's game has had to evolve. That was no more evident than in the regional final against Benet.
Trailing 37-33 in the fourth quarter and with Metea seeing slim success in the paint due to dominant 6-foot-8 Redwings center Sean O'Mara and friends, Obendorf drove inside to draw a foul, then converted both free throws to start a 7-0 run.
He made just 2 field goals in that game — the first of his two 3-pointers started the scoring — but made all 8 free throws and his team-high 14 points were nearly a third of Metea's total in the 45-44 victory.
“Vozza likes to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers, and I would be one of them on this team — we have a lot of them,” Obendorf said. “At that point he called a pick and roll maybe with Milan. Coming around I just saw an opportunity to attack the basket and draw the foul.”
It's a play a superstar would make. Vozza knows not to go there.
“I tell him he could be one of the top few players I've ever coached and he looks at you like you're crazy,” said Vozza, who for years was Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton's top assistant.
That's not crazy. That's humility.
“Individually, I think I'm probably not as good as some other players we've played against in our area,” Obendorf said, incorrectly.
“But as a product of a great system with a lot of great other guys at Metea, I think I've been able to have good personal success fitting a role on the team. I think I owe a lot to everyone else on the team and all the coaches because of all our success as a team. Because that's how we've been recognized, and that's how I've been recognized, too.”
It is a fitting captain who holds himself no higher than his teammates. Kenny Obendorf is that.
“Being with them for so long, we all know each other so well, we're kind of like brothers right now,” he said. “It's been a great experience doing this with them and having so much success. We've gone through a lot of things together and put in all the hard work. The end result is all the more sweet having gone through the journey with them.”