Chase Konieczny admits that he will talk about “the play” any and every day to those who ask about it.
The play was the former South Bend Saint Joseph’s star cager’s signature moment of a brilliant prep career on the hardwood.
Konieczny’s soaring tip-in dunk in the final minute of play helped lift his team past Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 56-52 for the Class 3A state championship back on March 29 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Big time plays like that by the star guard helped earn him the 2024-25 Tribune Male Athlete of the Year.
“This award means a lot to me,” said Konieczny in a recent phone interview. “I feel blessed and honored to receive it.”
Konieczny averaged 22.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.7 assists per game his senior season to pace the Huskies to a 27-3 mark. The 6-4 guard was the Northern Indiana Conference MVP in 2025 and a two-time Tribune Player of the Year. He scored 2,138 career points, the second most in St. Joe County boys basketball history and tied for 44th in state history.
But it was his throwdown dunk on a missed 3-point shot by teammate Nick Shrewsberry with 53 seconds left that he will forever be known for. Konieczny soared in over 6-9 Dezmon Briscoe of Attucks for the highlight play of the game, giving his team a 52-50 lead at the time.
“I’ve went back and watched that play a lot, too many times,” said Konieczny with a laugh. “I’m just so glad that I was crashing the boards. The opportunity came and I took it. I was not having the best game scoring, so I just tried to contribute in other ways. The opportunity came and I got a good bounce.”
Saint Joseph coach Eric Gaff, who took over the program in Konieczny’s freshman year, praised the big play ability of his star.
“Great players make plays and that was Chase,” said Gaff, who guided the Huskies to a Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2024. “The special ones figure it out and that was Chase. He made major plays in big wins for us.
“The thing about Chase is that he had that mentality, that drive to be special. He took pride in the little things and he cared about winning. He just wanted to win and that was a rarity that he brought.”
Konieczny, who was somehow left off the Indiana All-Star team, is currently in Florida. He will play for Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers this coming season, alongside his older brother J.R. The elder Konieczny has one season of eligibility left after transferring from Notre Dame. It will be the first time the pair have ever played on the same hoops team.
“It’s been amazing here and everything that I hope it would be,” said Konieczny. “To have J.R. here is such a plus for me. I always dreamed of us playing together and I’m so blessed to have this opportunity here with him.”
Gaff, who is 71-39 in his four seasons at St. Joe, knew he had a special one from the get go in the youngest of the three Konieczny children.
“Chase just had that relentless attitude,” said Gaff, himself a former standout player at both Concord High School and Grace College. “Scoring is the flashy part that a lot of players can do. Chase got better every year as a rebounder and on defnese. That’s why he’s a Division I player.”
“The other thing is that Chase took big steps forward as a leader and with his communication for us. He really came out of his shell about the last 14 months for us.”
Konieczny finished the state title game with 10 points to go with a game-high tying 11 rebounds and three assists. The state title was the first for a boys’ hoops program from South Bend since Clay claimed the hardware in 1994.
“I just try to bring energy and go 100 percent every day,” Konieczny remarked. “I know that I need to continue to work on communicating and on being a lock down defender.”
Konieczny comes from deep basketball roots in his family. J.R., along with older sister Nicole, were both stars on the hardwood. Nicole, who like J.R. was an Indiana All-Star, played collegiately at Valparaiso University before hip injuries ended her career. J.R. scored 1,996 points at St. Joe, while Nicole had 1,459 in her two years at LaPorte High School and final two at St. Joe. Nicole helped lead St. Joe to a Class 3A state title in 2017. All three of the competitive siblings wore No. 20 at St. Joe.
“They mean the world to me,” said Konieczny of his family, including parents Doug and Debbie. “I would not be here without all of them. They have all contributed to my success.
“I just want to thank them for everything.”
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Chase Konieczny claims Tribune’s Male Athlete of the Year honor
Reporting by Scott Davidson, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
