Lincoln-Way East’s Zion Gist finds his place at Western Michigan

Lincoln-Way East running back Zion Gist admitted that, at times, the recruiting process became a little bit redundant.

“My family and I, we were in a lot of places, going around trying to see what I liked. It’s all these different schools, and you know, they all get pretty much the same when you get to a certain level,” Gist said.

So when that became fairly clear, Gist did what came naturally.

He listened to his father, Stephon, and soon thereafter Gist committed to attend Western Michigan University.

“It was a weird thing. My dad actually manifested this. He always talks about me going to Western Michigan, he really loved the school there. And when I started to do my research I started to realize that I really liked it, too,” Gist said. “It is really just perfect for me, real close to home, about two hours, just seemed like a perfect fit.”

Gist served as part of what could be safely classified as a two-headed monster in the Lincoln-Way East backfield last season along with Nuri Muhammad. Muhammad, now graduated, took on the lion’s share of the carries, but Gist developed a knack for hitting for big plays both out of the backfield and as a receiver.

Gist recognizes that his role likely will be increased, but with the addition of transfer quarterback Jonas Williams from Bolingbrook, the scope of the Griffins’ offense could see a substantial change, as well.

“I feel great about it. Yeah, I’m going to get a bigger share, but we’re going to kind of be the opposite of what we were last year. Last year we were more run the ball to set up the pass, and now we are going to pass the ball to set up the run,” Gist said. “So that’s probably going to put five in the box for us to make it real easy to run the ball.”

Either way, Gist is ready for the transition, having worked hard in the offseason to add size without sacrificing speed. Gist was listed at 185 pounds last season, but will play his senior season at 200.

“I was probably about 180, and now I’m at 200,” Gist said. “I definitely put some work in to keep my speed up, doing some agility work, but I feel comfortable in my body.”

Gist has shown an ability to contribute in multiple ways, and that’s one of the things that appealed to Western Michigan.

“They use their running backs a lot out of the slot and out of the backfield a lot, which is my game,” Gist said. “I really like to be versatile, and I’m able to run the ball and able to catch it.”

Griffins coach Rob Zvonar really likes his running back’s fit in Kalamazoo.

“Zion works his tail off, not only in the weight room but in the classroom, and he put himself in a position to get recruited by a lot of programs,” Zvonar said. “I think some people look at it, that we’ve got this quarterback and we’re going to throw it all the time. We’ll throw it more than normal because you have to take advantage of your personnel, but when they are dropping eight guys, he’s going to have some holes in front of him, and we certainly haven’t stopped working on run blocking at Lincoln-Way East.”

The recruitment process didn’t stress out Gist, but he does admit that having things situated doesn’t feel too bad.

“It’s a lot of things, but relief is definitely the No. 1 thing,” Gist said. “To find a place that I like, it was just relieving, and now I don’t have the stress of trying to figure out where I’m going to go.”