By MARK MOSCHETTI
Seattle Pacific Sports Information
 
SEATTLE – Location, location, location.
 
In the real estate world, that's the operating mantra for making a sale.
 

But during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic – those gloomy, unsettling, even mind-numbing days of spring and summer 2020 – such a mantra had a whole different meaning for Seattle Pacific basketball player Zack Paulsen.
 
It wasn't about houses, schools, grocery stories, and nearby shopping centers.
 
Location, location, location?
 
That didn't extend much beyond Paulsen's room on campus.

"It was Covid, I was living up here, and I had a ton of extra time," Paulsen recalled. "We weren't practicing much, classes were online – and I caught myself in my dorm room a lot."
 
But while he might have stuck there physically much of the time, his mind was free to go anywhere … any location at all.
 

It wound up going into books and podcasts and courses and conversations with mentors …
 
… to study for his real estate license.
 
"I figured I would do something productive that could help me in the future instead of spending a lot of time to play video games and stuff," he said. "I never really thought about getting my real estate license. But I think I just wanted to find a way where instead of getting a full-time job during the summer, I could make some money and also set myself up for the future," he said.
 
To Falcons head coach Grant Leep, that sounds exactly like the Paulsen that he recruited out of Curtis High School in University Place, just southwest of Tacoma. The same Paulsen whose 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists this winter helped SPU qualify for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament and earned him a spot on the All-GNAC team.
 
"Zack would probably be on the short list of guys who had a path and a plan he wants his life to go after college and after basketball, which I really respect," Leep said. "I just love how during the time he has been with us, there has been zero question about his buy-in and how committed he is to team. But you also know he has his big-picture goal and how he wants things to shake out. And he has kept himself really disciplined to achieving those goals."
 
MELDING IT ALL TOGETHER
Sometimes, it's about practicing for the present, such as this week's GNAC Tournament at Western Washington University in Bellingham, beginning with a noon tip-off on Thursday against Northwest Nazarene.
 
Other times, it's about preparing for the future, such as learning about real estate investing.
 
Either way, Paulsen's figures there are other folks out there who have more knowledge, or different knowledge than he has – so why not soak up as much of it as he possibly can.

On the basketball court, the Falcons went 17-10 overall and 12-6 in the conference for third place. They forged a seven-game winning streak that included victories against each of the five other teams in this week's tournament.
 
And they did It by blending together a small core of six experienced veterans, including Paulsen, with a group of 10 newcomers. Of those 10, five transferred in from other programs.
 

"It's a super-new team, which has been awesome," Paulsen said. "The last four years, we've had the same group. Now, you get to experience new friends, new teammates, a new culture, and you kind of get to build that up. You have guys coming from different places, different systems, different roles.
 
"Once we were able to buy in and figure out who was going to do what, and what their role was going to be, then everyone took hold of that, and that's when things started to click, right around winter break."
 
Figuring out a role also applied to Paulsen. With the departure of team stalwarts such as Harry Cavell and Sharif Khan to graduation and Divant'e Moffitt to the transfer portal (Idaho), his would be somewhat different.
 
"Freshman year, I got hurt (ankle), but I had a role to come in and play really hard and shoot when I was open," he said. "This year, I got (the opportunity) to take a step up, with guys like Harry and Divant'e leaving, and just needing to take on a little more in the basketball aspect.
 
"But the biggest role I have on this team is leadership and pushing guys in the right direction of how you're supposed to act and how you're supposed to play. That's my biggest role is holding guys accountable and bringing them together."
 
Added Leep, "He understands our system on both ends of the floor, and just knows what we're trying to accomplish. When guys are confident like that, they also become very good talkers and very good communicators on the floor. With Zack's understanding of what we're trying to do, he has that role of being our best talker on the floor. That's such an important role as far as setting people up and getting guys to the right positions."
 
BACK IN THE GROOVE
Through most of January, the wins were piling up for the Falcons. They finished the first half of the GNAC schedule with an 8-1 record and were tied for first place.
 
But every team goes through some rough spots, and that happened through the last week of January and the first two weeks of February, as SPU dropped five of six.
 

"I think the way we played early in the year – going 8-1 in league, an eight-game home win streak, averaging about 90 points per game – I don't think we necessarily realized what we were doing," Paulsen said. "I think we thought it was going to be easy and we were going to keep doing that. We might gotten a little bit complacent and thought the same thing was going to work the second time.
 
"But teams come back and make adjustments, and we were struggling to adjust to that."
 
The Falcons finally got back on track, winning their last three. They pulled out a 72-70 victory at Montana State Billings. After trailing for almost the entire game against Alaska Anchorage last Thursday, they won it in the final seconds, 72-71. Then in the regular-season finale last Saturday against Alaska Fairbanks SPU overcame some early frosty shooting and snagged a 60-51 win.
 
"We always talk about being gritty, not pretty," Paulsen said. "It's not always going to be pretty with this group. We don't have the most flashy players. But we have dudes who really want to win and we have guys who play hard, and that's super-important to us. As long as we bring that together and play together, we can go as far as we want to go."
 
GETTING A FEEL FOR THE FIELD
However far that turns out to be, there's a chance it could be Paulsen's last action as a Falcon. He has two years of eligibility remaining due to an injury as a true freshman and a no-count Covid season as a sophomore.
 
But academically, Paulsen is a senior and will graduate with his degree in finance this spring. He could play some more if he chooses to do so, but indicated that he isn't currently leaning in that direction.
 
Besides, he did put in all of that work and study during the pandemic to get that real estate license. He also has gotten connected with a firm.
 
"Ultimately, I would like to get into real estate investing," Paulsen said. "One of the best ways to do that was just to understand the market and understand how that works. Getting my license was kind of the first step in that, and also help out friends and family along the way."
 
Matter of fact, he already has, to a limited extent.
 
"I've done four transactions. I was very blessed that my grandparents needed to sell some land at Ocean Shores (on the Washington coast). They were able to be my first transaction, so I'm super thankful to them. I helped (former SPU teammate) Mehdi El Mardi buy a house in south Seattle. That was a super-cool experience. I got to play basketball with him, we got to grow our relationship, and now I got to help him buy a house, so we've come full circle."
 
LAST LINE ON THE BRACKET
Paulsen already has gotten up-close-and-personal experience of what a wild ride the world of real estate can be.
 
"The first year I got into it was when everything started taking off. Houses were going in days, if not hours, after they were listed. It was a good learning experience, and I got to see what it was like when the market was so crazy. I was being told in meetings, 'If you can figure out what it's like in a market like this, then you'll be able to get it when the market kind of slows down again.'
 
"I'm always on the data base looking at houses."

That is, when he's not looking at game plans or strategic schemes for the next basketball contest – starting with Northwest Nazarene on Thursday. Seattle Pacific is on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament, so a deep run in the conference tourney is vital.
 
"I'm feeling really good. We've got to rebound and play really hard." Paulsen said. "We've talked about the last few games and how the hardest-playing team is going to win, especially in this league. NNU always plays really hard.
 
"We're playing for our season, basically. We know that and we understand that."
 
That means moving through the first round into the semifinals. From the semifinals into the finals.
 
From the finals onto that last line on the far right side of the bracket. The piece of tournament real estate, such as it were, reserved for the champion.
 
Because in the basketball world …
 
… that last line is what location, location, location is really all about.