Cosumnes Oaks’ Jeffrey Dresser doubles his fun, teams this winter
Cosumnes Oaks High School senior Jeffrey Dresser is working toward an A-plus in multitasking this winter.
He’s up at 5:45 a.m. every day to attend Mormon seminary by 6:15. Then it’s off to school, where the Eagle Scout maintains a 4.0 GPA.
After final bell there’s basketball practice or games with the Wolfpack, for whom the 6-foot Dresser is a three-year starter, team captain and one of the best shooting guards in the Sacramento area.
Although such a schedule may be more than enough for most teens, Dresser has added another after-school activity. When his basketball schedule permits, he plays numerous positions on Cosumnes Oaks’ successful soccer team. Dresser has appeared in five games and has two goals and one assist for the Wolfpack (10-2-1).
My whole life I’ve been playing soccer and basketball and they’ve been my passions. So while it’s physically challenging, it’s fun. And thanks to my coaches and my teammates, it’s allowed me to do both.
Jeffrey Dresser
Cosumnes Oaks seniorIt’s not as if Dresser wants to split time between the sports – he really has no choice. For the first time, boys and girls soccer are being played during the winter, along with basketball. Boys soccer had been played in the fall, before basketball season. The girls season traditionally was played in the spring.
Dresser has been able to play both sports for Cosumnes Oaks thanks to his conditioning and a little understanding from basketball coach Patrick Roth and soccer coach Alejandro Murillo Chaves.
“My whole life I’ve been playing soccer and basketball and they’ve been my passions,” Dresser said. “So while it’s physically challenging, it’s fun. And thanks to my coaches and my teammates, it’s allowed me to do both.”
Roth said Cosumnes Oaks students are encouraged to play multiple sports.
“That’s the way it should be,” said Roth, who has coached boys basketball at the school since it opened in 2008. “High school coaches who tell their athletes you can only play for me, they’re making a huge mistake.”
Yet student-athletes rarely play two sports simultaneously, especially physically demanding ones such as soccer and basketball that require a lot of running.
“I won’t do this concession with everybody because not everyone can handle playing two sports at the same time and still excel as a student and as an athlete,” Murillo Chaves said. “Jeffrey brings to the soccer team what he brings to the basketball team – 100 percent effort, leadership and knowledge of the game.”
Dresser said he hasn’t felt overextended.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s fun to go out there and battle on the field with my soccer team, then go and push it with the basketball team. It’s not too much. It’s the full experience.”
Dresser admitted basketball is a little higher on his to-do list, only because the sport is in the family DNA.
His father, Jeff Sr., was a basketball standout at Del Campo in the early 1990s. His uncles, Mike and Jay, played the sport at Casa Roble.
Dresser’s grandfather, Jon, a retired physician, played at BYU, and his great-grandfather, Bill, played at Kansas State and coached basketball at Sacramento High before becoming a principal at the Oak Park school. He also served as a principal at Burbank and El Camino.
“Basketball is a big piece of our lives,” said Dresser, who is averaging 21 points and seven rebounds for the Wolfpack (10-3). He’s also shooting 92 percent from the free-throw line and 46 percent from 3-point range.
“Whenever we go over to my grandfather’s house for family gatherings, we’ll go outside and shoot around because he has a hoop. We’re always doing something basketball-oriented as a family.”
As a sophomore, Dresser was a key contributor on a senior-laden Cosumnes Oaks basketball team that went 23-9 and reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinals and CIF Northern California regional semifinals.
Jeffrey brings to the soccer team what he brings to the basketball team – 100 percent effort, leadership and knowledge of the game.
Alejandro Murillo Chaves
Cosumnes Oaks soccer coach, on Jeffrey Dresser“He’s an incredible shooter, so his skills stood out right away,” Roth said. “Even on a team with a lot of strong personalities, he was mature enough to fit in with them.”
As a defender last season, Dresser helped the soccer team go 18-1-4 and win the section Division II championship.
“Last year we lost our best defensive player to the Republic FC Academy,” Murillo Chaves said. “We still won sections because other players stepped it up. Jeffrey was one of them, and he played a valuable role defensively.”
This winter Dresser hopes to help the Wolfpack win league and section titles in both sports.
“Our soccer team is very talented,” he said. “We definitely have a shot at winning another section championship. Our basketball team has the pieces. I definitely think we can make a deep run.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Cosumnes Oaks’ Jeffrey Dresser doubles his fun, teams this winter."