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The Albertsons Big Deal of the Week is a new addition to IdahoSports.com in which student-athletes who excel in the classroom and competitively are selected on a weekly basis to be featured on the site. Each recipient of this weekly honor receives a $100 Albertsons gift card and is featured as a top story on IdahoSports.com.
Three-sport star Kyler Yancey is our selection for this week. Yancey has excelled on the diamond this spring with a .526 batting average, 23 runs and 13 steals. He also has a 3-0 record with an ERA of 3.21 in a team leading ten appearances on the mound. He maintains a 3.7 GPA in the classroom and has been a standout in football and basketball as well during his high school career.
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I’m a huge sports guy. I can find almost any sport entertaining to watch most of the time. I also like being outdoors. Hunting and fishing are definitely my two favorite things to do besides sports.
Do you have a nickname? If so, how did you get it?
Most people just call me Ky for short, but somehow in sports I got the nickname Gomez. I don’t really know how it originated.
What is your favorite sport to watch? Participate in?
My favorite sports to watch are football and baseball. I also enjoy watching wrestling quite a bit. My favorite sport to play is definitely baseball.
As a student-athlete, which is harder - being a student, or being an athlete? Why?
For me, sports was always easier just because I enjoyed doing it more. I liked working hard in sports, but in school I didn’t always enjoy working hard. That was more of the grind for me.
Overall GPA:
3.7
What is the best thing you have learned from playing sports in high school?
The best thing I have learned from high school sports is work ethic. It taught me that I could do whatever I wanted to if I was willing to work for it. Also, it taught me that you’re not entitled to anything. The truly successful people are the ones who work for it.
Favorite high school memory, so far?
My favorite high school memory so far was playing in Holt Arena for our football game against Weiser this last year. That was probably one of the funnest games of my life.
Who is your favorite teacher? Why?
My favorite teacher is probably Mr. Crittenden or Mr. Hildebrand. I enjoy both of their classes a lot, and they’re both pretty fun teachers. I’ve had a lot of laughs in both their classes and look forward to going to them most days. Mrs. Hildebrand actually made us dinner and let my friends come over and have family dinner with them once. It was some of the best food I have ever eaten!
What kind of car gets you around town?
I drive an old beat up Chevy with a heater that works most of the time and AC that never works. It’s older than me, and it’s a gas hog, but it gets me where I need to go most of the time.
Cat person or dog person?
Dog person definitely. My mom loves cats and she’s scolding me right now because I don’t share her love for them as much as she does. She’s trying like crazy to get me to like them, and she’s at least got me to the point that I don’t hate them. Cats just shed way too much.
Favorite food?
I like pretty much anything you put in front of me. My family refers to me as the garbage disposal, so that tells you how much I enjoy eating. My favorite is probably like steak or chicken though. You can do all sorts of stuff with that and make it taste good.
You have an entire weekend with no plans. What do you do?
If the weather is nice, I’m gonna find something to do outside. I would probably try to go fishing, or mountain biking or something fun outdoors like that. Those types of things would definitely be first on the agenda.
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?
I would like to meet Tom Brady or Bill Belichick. They might be the two best ever at what they do, and I would just like to talk with them and see how they go about their business. I think it would be cool just to have a conversation with them.
What is something most people do not know about you?
Most people don’t know that I love to watch wrestling. That is one sport that I wished I would’ve had time to participate in because I think it is one of the coolest sports out there. The guys that are good at it are absolute studs, and I think it is probably one of the most physically demanding sports there is.
What celebrity would play you if they made a movie about your life?
I wanted to say some good looking handsome actor, but I can’t lie to myself so I really don’t know. My girl in the movie would definitely be Selena Gomez though.
What was the last song you listened to?
Thunderclouds by LSD.
What are your plans after high school (college, work, etc.)?
I plan on serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and maybe come back and try to play baseball somewhere. If not, I will attend BYU-I most likely. I plan on studying engineering management.
When you "grow up" what is your idea of the perfect job?
My idea of the perfect job is just a lot of variety between working with my hands and building things and talking and associating with all sorts of different people. Those two things are kind of what I’m looking for in a job.
What is the best advice you have ever received and from who?
The best advice I have ever received was from a guy who spoke at a stake conference my church held. Unfortunately I cannot remember his name, but I do know he got the idea for the specific talk he gave from a talk given by Joseph B. Wirthlin. He said, “Come what may and love it.” I try to implement that into my life in everything I do because that’s what allows me to learn and successfully approach everything in my life.
Any shoutouts:
I’ve gotta shout out my parents because they really have had the biggest impact in my life. I also have to shout out my friends and the rest of my family because I have always had as big of a support system that I could ever ask for. Lastly, I want to thank my coaches and teammates over the years. They have really had a pretty big influence in my life as well.
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