Iron Mountain senior Oskar Kangas (0) throws down a two-hand dunk against Gwinn in Mountaineer Gym during a West PAC contest Feb. 7. (Terry Raiche photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — From the moment Oskar Kangas stepped onto the basketball court as a member of the Iron Mountain varsity squad, he stood out. Not only because he was 6-foot-5 inches tall, but because his skills and his athleticism were advanced, especially for a 14-year-old kid, which he was at the time.

And that never changed. In his four seasons with the Mountaineers, Kangas scored 1,976 points, third-most in school history behind Foster Wonders and Marcus Johnson. His teams went 80-14 along the way and Kangas was selected to both the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association all-U.P. Dream team three times and the Associated Press Division 3 all-state first team three times.

Kangas will continue his basketball career next year as a member of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one of the top D3 leagues in the nation.

The 17-year-old Iron Mountain native recently spoke about his hoops career to this point.

Q: What does it mean to you that you were selected to all-U.P. Dream Team and the D3 all-state team for the third time each?

A: It’s a great honor. I think it’s something that shows the hard work that I’ve (put in) in the offseason. A lot of it comes from my teammates and my coaches helping me out with that.

Q: When you say hard work, what does that mean, specifically?

A: We had a little thing this year, I think it was putting up 5,000 shots (in the summer). So, I would try to go to the gym every day, put up a couple hundred shots, something like that. Then I would do some ball-handling and I would do that pretty much every day for an hour, give or take.

Q: Since you’re a graduating senior and you aren’t playing AAU basketball anymore, what are you doing basketball related at this time?

A: Oshkosh sent me a workout plan. It’s an app that I downloaded, and the workout plan is four times a week for four weeks. It’s a full body workout.

Then I’m playing in the Gold Medal (Classic Basketball Tournament). I’m on like four different teams. I hadn’t played a real game since we lost (in the regional semifinals), so getting back on the court and actually going up and down against some good competition was fun.

Q: You’ve been the best player on your Iron Mountain teams since you were a freshman. Was there pressure involved with that?

A: I didn’t feel a crazy amount of pressure because I always thought, “I’m doing what I love to do.” So most games I would go into it and try to be as relaxed as possible, be loose and let the game come to me.

Q: Even as a freshman you felt OK with being the stress of being the top player?

A: I would say that if there was a year when I was probably the most anxious or nervous was my freshman year. Just because no one knew what to expect of that team. We went from a team that competed in the state finals to a team that only had one guy (Joey Colavecchi) that had varsity experience.

Q: What about team pressure?

A: I feel like as a team we handled pressure some times better than others, which wasn’t a good thing. Our goal was to always try to play loose and confident.

(And) I feel that Mountaineer basketball is definitely something that has a rich history and a lot of people know about Mountaineer basketball. So it seemed like every year, whether we’re good or bad, people want to beat us.

Q: You played with your brother Reece during your first three seasons until he graduated last year. Was it strange not playing with him this year?

A: It was definitely weird. I never had played a varsity game without him and Matthew Colavecchi. The chemistry we had built, I would always know where Reece was and where Matthew was. So missing those pieces was different.

Q: What do you know now about basketball that you didn’t know when you started your high school career?

A: I would say, just letting the game come to me. Freshman year, I kind of, at times, maybe if we got down, I would try to force something to try to get us back up. But I think senior year, that was a big thing, I kind of let it come to me. Where if it’s a position to create, I will create, but if a shot’s not there, I’ll dish it for a better shot.

Q: How did your recruitment to UW-Oshkosh come about?

A: It all started in June of last year, between my junior and senior seasons. We were at a team camp at Oshkosh. And they had the Oshkosh women’s and men’s basketball players running the score.

And from what I heard, their head coach (Matt Lewis) told them that if there was a good player, to let him know. I was playing well and he came and sat at the scorer’s table. After the game, he came up to me and introduced himself, and asked me if he could show me around campus.

The next morning, we played a game and then he gave me a brief walk around campus. And then from that point on, there were a lot of letters. It was kind of crazy, I think he tried to do a letter a day.

Q: Did you talk to other schools?

A: I visited other schools after that, but I think from that point on, it was 90% Oshkosh.

Q: Are you looking forward to going to there?

A: Absolutely, yeah.

Q: Tired of high school?

A: A little bit. It will be a good change of pace.

Q: What are your best memories of playing basketball at Iron Mountain?

A: Winning the district this year, definitely. A big one was definitely after (a Sunday practice) going to get breakfast with the guys. Then in my sophomore year, we started a secret Santa exchange. And even bus rides home, playing different games.

Q: Will you miss anything else about high school?

A: Yeah. I’d say it’s definitely bittersweet because I’m excited for Oshkosh and what’s to come. But even some of the underclassmen I’ve gotten to know through sports, the juniors and sophomores, like not seeing them next year.

And all of my friends that I’ve been with all my life, they’re all going to different schools. It’s crazy to think about.