By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer
Poland’s 6-foot-7 center has avoided distractions despite steady parade of college recruiters.

POLAND – At 6-foot-7, Jon Lecznar towers over his schoolmates in the hallways of Poland Regional High School. He towers over many of them in the classroom, too. And he knows what to do with a basketball in his hands, if you’re interested.

A lot of Division III schools are, not surprisingly. Bates, Brandeis, Endicott, Wheaton and Union have made inquiries to the senior or his coach, Chris Willer.

Luckily for Lecznar, he has Willer, the first-year varsity coach at Poland, to lean on. Willer is only a few years removed from being a highly-sought D-III prospect himself, coming out of Valley High School, and remembers the unseen pressures of balancing this year with next, basketball with academics, and making a choice that many high school athletes face with little guidance.

“There is a lot of pressure on him,” Willer said. “There are scouts at almost every game. There’s been a few at practices. There’s phone calls all the time. It’s always in the back of his mind.”

Willer said Lecznar has kept the pressure from distracting him on the court.

“Sometimes I see (the scouts) at the beginning of games, but once I get into the game, I don’t really notice,” Lecznar said.

That’s usually because he’s drawing more than enough distractions on the court. As one of the top big men in the Western Maine Conference, Lecznar is subjected to endless double and triple-teaming. He’s still good for a double-double on most nights, and will probably turn back three or four shots for good measure.

Coach and player are fine with the physical pounding that comes with being surrounded whenever Lecznar has, or even doesn’t have, the ball. Just for good measure, Willer has Lecznar subjected to more pounding during practice.

“I definitely know next year that I’m going to have to play on a totally different level, so I’ve paid more attention to weight-lifting and more of the little stuff,” Lecznar said.

Lecznar admitted he has been too passive on the court in the past, that he hasn’t played up to his large frame at times.

Willer’s pet project for this year and beyond is getting him to do that.

“There are times on the court where I’m like, Jon, you just gotta be mean.’ That’s been my goal in this, to toughen him up physically and mentally,” Willer said.

Lecznar who, it’s fair to say, is probably the most coveted basketball player yet to come out of the fledgling program, appreciates his coach sharing his knowledge, and his efforts to see Lecznar prepare for life as a college basketball player. But he also knows the most important thing Willer has offered him is perspective.

“He’s helped me remember I’ve got to look at more than just the basketball part. I’ve got to look at all aspects of the school,” he said.

“I talked to him about making the right decision for himself academi-cally,” Willer said, “with the idea that you want to play for a decent program, too.”