Q & A: Zach Lofton Looks Back at His Columbia Heights Career

Zack Lofton, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Columbia Heights High School, led the Hylanders to their first state tournament appearance since 1930 and a spot in the Class AAA state championship game. He averaged a metro area-best 29.6 points per game and was a first team Fox Sports North.com All-Metro selection.

Lofton finished his high school career this weekend at the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Series held in St. Cloud and at Macalaster College.

Lofton had seven games in which he scored 40 or more points, including a season-best 53 versus Minneapolis Washburn, as he paced the Hylanders to a 25-7 mark this season.

In 2009-2010, Lofton helped lead the Hylanders to a 22-7 record as a junior, losing to Minneapolis DeLaSalle in the Class AAA, Section 3 finals. He averaged 18.8 points per game and scored in double figures in every game but one. Lofton had 10 games of 20 or more points, including a season-best 29 points versus Park Center.  His numbers are even more impressive when you consider that Jacob Thomas, who signed with Long Beach State, averaged 26.7 points per game

Patch.com caught up with Lofton to talk about their postseason run and college plans.

Fridley Patch: You got the chance to play with and against a lot of players that you played AAU ball against this weekend. Was this kind of a fun last opportunity to play against some of these guys?

Zack Lofton: It was real fun. You don’t get to play against that type of competition in high school ball, because these players are All-Stars and the best players from each team. It was fun. All the guys are pretty cool. It was a real fun weekend. It was an honor.

Fridley Patch: You had some friendly rivalries out there, too.  

Zack Lofton: Yes, with Jonah [Travis of DeLaSalle High School]. That was a DeLaSalle-Columbia Heights thing. It was just fun. I got to play with St. Paul Johnson kids. They are my neighbors, Roosevelt Scott and Estan Tyler. I’ve been playing with them forever, so it was just fun.

Fridley Patch: How about the state tournament run? Columbia Heights had not been in the state tournament since 1930 and it seemed like a lot of people from the community really seemed to get behind the program. Did that make it even more special to make it that far in the tournament?  

Zack Lofton: It made it some much more special. Of course, it was so much fun for me and I was so happy. I was even more happy that we got a chance to get the community back together and give them something to be proud about. I like making people happy.

Fridley Patch: Did you hear from a lot of people that you didn’t even know that were from the area that wished you good luck and congratulate you guys?  

Zack Lofton: Actually, there was a lot of that. I liked it, though. I knew that it was all positive energy and we needed that to win state. We made a good run. It was just one bad game. It’s all right.

Fridley Patch: You had a great year, averaging nearly 30 points per game. What stand out as some of the highlights this season?

Zach Lofton: My senior year, there are a couple of things that I wanted to accomplish. I had a couple of goals. To make it to the state tournament championship. It was actually to win, but we got there. Get another 20-win season, and when I got hurt, my team came back and won against Minneapolis North. That was the biggest. It was really emotional.

Fridley Patch: Originally, you expected to miss quite a while with the injury, but you came back pretty quickly. Was it the fact that this was your senior season that pushed you to get back on the court as soon as possible?

Zack Lofton: That is exactly what it was. My uncle is actually a podiatrist, so he knows a lot of people in the medical field and he got me doing some rehab and I came back pretty quick.

Fridley Patch: Did you even surprise yourself and others with how quickly you were able to come back, since there was some talk that you might miss the rest of the season?

Zack Lofton: I actually did. We went to the doctor and I had no intent of playing. I was just going to get my stitches out, right before the Benilde game. My grandmother said that "maybe you’ll be able to play” and we asked them and they said I was good. I was really happy. The first game was rusty, but after that, I was back in the flow.

Fridley Patch: I know that you are a competitive kid, so it had to be tough to be sitting out when you want to be playing?  

Zack Lofton: It was five or six games. It was very, very, very hard. The only thing I could do was to cheer my team on and hope that they won. They won four of the five games. I knew that I was going to be back for March and that is what really mattered.

Fridley Patch: What is the latest on your recruitment? I know that you are getting a lot of looks from some of the top junior college programs in the country. Have you set up any visits through your coaches?

Zack Lofton: I set up a couple of visits with a couple of schools. I am going to take a visit to San Jacinto [in Texas] April 8-10. I don’t know what route I am going to take. I got a 21 on my ACT, so I don’t know what I am going to do. I don’t know if I like my recruitment right now. I don’t know if I want some more schools [to get involved] or JCs. I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t want people to think that I am going [to a junior college] because I didn’t make the requirements for going Division I. It is going to be what is best for me.

Fridley Patch: You have played AAU basketball the last couple of springs and summers. You are ready to move on, but will you miss some of those events and playing against the top players in the country?

Zack Lofton: I’ll miss it a lot. My dad was talking about a prep school out East. He is going to do that in the next couple of weeks and if he does that, I’ll definitely try to get on an AAU team. I miss that a lot. As soon as the EYBL [Elite Youth Basketball League] came in, we basically made history being the first team to play in the ESPN EYBL. I was just starting to click and get my confidence and go up against players like Austin Rivers [who is headed to Duke] and Trevor Lacey [a top-ranked guard from Alabama]. I am going to miss it a lot. I wish I were going to the Boo Williams Invitational [a big AAU tournament held in Virginia] next week. It was a real fun tournament, playing against the best players.”

Fridley Patch: You have a really close relationship with Columbia Heights coaches Willie Braziel and Dedrick Jenkins, who were also coaches for the Howard Pulley AAU program. Has that helped you throughout your career since you knew them so well and you really seemed to have a tight bond?

Zack Lofton: It helps me a lot. They are a big factor in my decision for college, too. They are basically my family, Dedrick and Coach Braziel.