Recently, Jacob Wilsey won the VYPE ATX Public School Preseason OL of the Year Fan Poll. Wilsey plays for one of the most storied 6A programs in the state; Lake Travis. VYPE sat down with Wilsey to ask a few questions heading into the season.
VYPE: Talk to me about your time at Lake Travis as you come into your senior year. What's it been like playing for a storied franchise
WILSEY: Playing for Lake Travis has been a dream of mine since I moved here in 6th grade and getting to be a varsity football player here is something that I thought about a lot when I was younger. To get to play here for two years and be apart of that success is something so important to me. The environment at Lake Travis is like no other playing football here is something very special and I'm blessed to get to be apart of that.
VYPE: Now on to you, who do you try and emulate your game off of?
WILSEY: I tried to emulate my game off of the two seniors I played next to last season Seth McDaniel and William Bishop. The Offensive Line was so smart and were such rocks for the rest of the team and program. I have tried to be a person that takes work off the quarterback and the players next to me by being the smartest player I could be, and I learned this from Seth and William who were two very intelligent football players.
VYPE: You made it to the state semis last season and I've said you've been the "quietest power" in Texas the last few seasons. You've made the state semis 2 of the last 3 years, which is no easy feat, and it almost feels like people forget that at times. So just talk to me about that sustained success Lake Travis has had.
WILSEY: The sustained winning that Lake Travis has had 100% is led by Coach Carter. He has built a winning culture at Lake Travis that even seeps down to our youth teams, no team at Lake Travis thinks that it is okay to lose or okay to not find success. I think after our lose in the first round my sophomore year a lot of our seniors were driven throughout the offseason to get revenge, while we didn’t get to play them we still won a lot of football games. While last years team was good we definitely have something special this year that is exciting to get to be apart of.
VYPE: What have you been working on personally this offseason?
WILSEY: I wanted to work on gaining weight this offseason I got pushed around by better players in the late rounds of the playoffs and I made a point to put on weight and it has definitely helped me.
VYPE: What are some personal goals for you this season?
WILSEY: I want to win state this year we were close last year but this year our team can get to that point if we start clicking together. For myself, I want to get a first team all district award at Center.
VYPE: What is your pre-game routine?
WILSEY: My pregame routine has lots of music and stretching. I listen to lots of ACDC and Aerosmith pregame, but I'll also listen to Kanye, Eminem, Dr. DRE, and others throughout the day to get my self locked in. Before the game I like to talk to friends as it keeps me calm and keeps me from overthinking the game.
VYPE: What has been your greatest memory playing for Lake Travis so far?
WILSEY: I have two, my first memory and easily one of the greatest memories I have from sports is when I ran out of the tunnel last season and saw our sold out stands against Arlington Martin. The feeling I got running out and knowing that there were 10,000 people there to watch us play was a great feeling. My other greatest moment would be my freshman year when our Freshman Black team beat Westlake from a 42 yard field goal by our safety Kyle Thompson.
VYPE: Outside of the game of football, what's one of your favorite things to do off the field?
WILSEY: I really like to hang out with my friends we do anything from Cliff jumping to thrift shopping I have a great group of friends and family who surround me and push me to be a better player and a better leader.
VYPE: Finally, what is one message you want to send to the Lake Travis community for what they can expect this season?
WILSEY: Expect a lot of winning this season some might be discouraged by our first game but our team is young, we have a lot of winning left to come and I would expect a lot out of Lake Travis this year. Don’t be surprised when we are playing in Jerry World in December.