Counting down the Huskies --- No. 14 Brendan Sherrer
Sherrer is a popular figure around Montlake. He's the former Dawg Pack member who went to an open tryout in 2009 and was the only one to earn a spot on the roster.Entering his third season, Sherrer hopes his Cinderella story includes a chapter where he plays meaningful minutes in a game. Some believe he's improved to the point where he can challenge for a spot in the rotation.
Sherrer admits he'd like to play more than garbage minutes, but understands better than anyone the competition for minutes is stiff. He battles against UW's big men everyday. In the past, he felt overwhelmed in those matchups, but not anymore. Not since gaining 30-40 pounds of muscle since his sophomore year.
No matter what happens, Sherrer says walking on at Washington was one of the best decisions in his life.
"It's been a life changer," he said. "It really has. I have so many different experiences in my life now just from basketball and being on this team that I never would have imagined.
"I've gone to a physical shape that I never would have been at before. Been able to push myself through things mentally that I never would have pushed myself through. I've traveled the country. Made great friends. Met exceptional coaches. I've been to the Sweet 16. It's incredible."
Here's a transcript of a recent interview with Sherrer.
(Did you go back to Alaska this summer?) "Yeah I went to Alaska again. Seventh year. I got back July 20 and I've been here since."
(Let's get into that a bit. Many folks don't know your history with fishing and Alaska.) "I commercial fish. It's me, my mom and my sister. It's my mom's business and I go up there and kind of help run it."
(What is that like?) "[Laughs] Long days. Not too much sleep. It's a lot of work, but I'm only up there for a month so it pays off."
(What do you mean by long days?) "It just depends on the tide, but you can be fishing for 16 hours a day. Or 18 hours. It just depends on how the ocean is. And then you sleep in between or whenever you can.
Alaska Pack Rafts - News
But maybe 'The Fisherman' is a more apt moniker for the 6 foot 8, 255-pound senior forward who spends a portion of the offseason commercial fishing in Alaska. Sherrer is a popular figure around Montlake. He's the former Dawg Pack member who went to an
Hard graft with a raft | Alastair Humphreys
An in-depth article for about the equipment choices for my .
With aching shoulders and tired legs, we spent each day cursing the weight of our packs. The rucksacks, which contained all of our equipment and 25 days’ food, weighed 40 kilograms apiece. And yet each evening, as I scraped every last morsel from my boil-in-the-bag meal, I bemoaned the fact that I was permanently hungry and wished that we had brought more food.
But today was different. We descended from the Hofsjökull glacier to the headwaters of the Thjórsá river. There we inflated small packrafts, strapped our backpacks onto the bows, and let the racing glacial waters whisk us swiftly on our way. Things suddenly felt a lot more enjoyable and exciting.
Coast to coast Together with Chris Herwig, my expedition partner and photographer, I had set out to try to cross Iceland. The plan was simple: we would hike inland from the coast, carrying all of our food and gear. When we reached the watershed, we would inflate packrafts and paddle down to the opposite coast. It would be a coast-to-coast journey with more variety and challenge than merely hiking.
Packrafts are inflatable boats that are sufficiently small and light to be carried long distances. I discovered them after reflecting on how I could combine several different elements that are important to me into my expeditions. These include simplicity, variety, relatively low cost and skill requirements, gaining easy access to wilderness areas, and finding projects that are challenging, rewarding and interesting but also of short duration.
Packrafting requires more kit than an ordinary trekking journey. Careful consideration of equipment is required if the benefits of having a packraft aren’t to become outweighed, literally, by the inconvenience of carrying too much stuff. Compromise and versatility are key. We could have crossed Iceland by hiking the whole way and crossing rivers at shallow points. We chose to use packrafts because they added value to our expedition by making the project more logistically and intellectually interesting. And they added excitement, difficulty and a sense of discovery without adding a large burden of complication, cost or weight.