Living His Dream : Professional Hoops Overseas with Peristeri Basketball Club Forward Jake Van Tubbergen

From the high school gyms of West Ottawa to the professional arenas of Europe, Jake Van Tubbergen’s basketball journey embodies the power of persistence, hardwork and community.

As a 2017 West Ottawa graduate who led the Panthers to their first-ever boys basketball district title, Jake reflects on the unbreakable bonds formed with teammates who did "everything together" - from team sleepovers to hallway conversations between classes. That unselfish team chemistry became the foundation for his approach to the game, a philosophy that has served him well across multiple professional leagues.

Jake's five-year career at Grand Valley State University presented new challenges - transforming from a lanky high schooler to a more physically imposing player capable of competing against "grown men." With candid humor, he recounts his evolution from being nicknamed "Gumby" and "go-go gadget arms" to becoming a versatile threat who finished fourth on GVSU's all-time scoring list with over 2,000 points.

The leap to playing professionally overseas brought both excitement and profound challenges. "That first time I left was tough," Jake admits, describing fighting back tears at the airport as his parents dropped him off. Yet through basketball, he found connection in foreign lands, building friendships with teammates from across the globe while experiencing cultures he might never have encountered otherwise.

From winning league MVP in Portugal to floating in the Dead Sea during his season in Israel, Jake's basketball career has become a passport to life-changing experiences. Now engaged and preparing for a new season with Peristeri in Athens, Greece, he maintains the wide-eyed appreciation of his younger self: "Ten-year-old me would think this is awesome. To this day, I still think that."

Share your thoughts of encouragement and appreciation for Jake in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe for more conversations with Panther athletes making their mark in our community and throughout the world.

If you'd like to watch Jake play, courtside1891.basketball provides livestreams of all FIBA Basketball, including some Peristeri games, (we think), his new team in Athens, Greece. The annual subscription cost is $29.99 for the entire year. (Not sure if this will work yet but we will keep you posted.)

This episode was recorded on July 27, 2025.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Man, that first time I left, that was tough.
I mean, I just...
I can only imagine.
Yeah, because, I mean, myparents' house is two minutes
away from West Ottawa.
My Grand Valley, 40 minutesaway.
So I've always been, you know,right there.
And they're the ones taking meto the airport.
My parents are dropping me off,and I'm sitting there, like,

(00:23):
fighting tears.
Like, man, like, oh, man.
So I was definitely feeling it.
Hey, everybody.
This is Rodney Valinga with theWest Ottawa High School Athletic
Program.
And you're listening to the 29.1Podcast.
29 sports, one team.
The show that brings you intothe lives of student athletes,

(00:46):
coaches, and other faces in thePanther sports community.
Bringing you the stories youmight otherwise never hear.
Join myself and AthleticDirector Bill Kennedy as we dive
in with you to get to know eachother a little bit better.
Every once in a while, thosechildhood dreams of becoming a

(01:08):
professional athlete come true.
Today, we're joined by 2017 WestOttawa graduate Jake Van
Tubergen.
We sit down with Jake and talkall things basketball, from his
time as a Panther through hisupcoming season in Athens,
Greece.
He plays the game professionallywith the same joy he did as a
kid and gets as much out of ano-look pass to an open teammate
as he does with a transitiondunk in traffic.

(01:31):
Jake Van Tubergen, up next onthe 29.1 Podcast.
Let's get it.
Hey everybody, welcome back toanother edition of the 29 one
podcast.
I'm your host Rodney Valinga andI am joined once again by

(01:53):
Panthers athletic director BillKennedy.
It's late July and we are allenjoying the summer and we
couldn't be more thrilled to sitdown and spend some quality time
Catching up with today's guest.
He's a 2017 West Ottawa HighSchool graduate.
He helped lead the Panthers totheir first ever boys basketball
district title in 2017, aregional final that same year,

(02:16):
and as a senior, averaged closeto 19 points a game as the team
went 23-2 overall, including anundefeated 12-0 OK Red
conference record.
He received numerous accoladesthat year, including
All-Conference First Team,Holland Sentinel First Team,
Grand Rapids Press, MLive, FirstTeam, Dream Team, all the while

(02:37):
maintaining a GPA of 3.59.
He went on to play five seasonsat Grand Valley State University
in a full-ride scholarship,received numerous accolades
there as well, including a FirstTeam All-American in his senior
year, and is now playingbasketball professionally in
Europe.
And in 2024, he was named theleague MVP for Immortal Luzigas

(02:57):
in the Portuguese BasketballLeague, also known as Liga
Betclic.
And it's our pleasure to ask,who is it?
Jake Van Tubergen.
Awesome, Jake.
Thanks so much for carving outsome time.
Jake's in town to take place ina little basketball game over at
the Holland Civic Center latertoday.
Was gracious enough to come inand...
Spend some time, reallyappreciate it.

(03:18):
Yes, sir.
Happy to be here.
Thanks for having us.
And thanks for the niceintroduction.
Hey, yeah, I know it gets along, sometimes it gets long
winded at times.
It was nice.
Yeah, it's not too bad.
So I got the Tulip City tip off.
That's why you're in town.
Yes, sir.
I just texted you.
This is really spur of themoment.
If you're listening, I want toreally just say how gracious you

(03:39):
are.
I texted you, I think Thursdaysaid, hey, we hear you're in
town.
Can you slide on by for this?
And within a couple minutes, itwas really fun.
It was really great.
How long are you actually inHolland for?
Probably, honestly, 18 hours atthe most.
And we get one.
Let's go.
So I came into town this morningfrom a wedding from a good

(04:01):
friend from Grand Valley.
Nice.
Okay.
So I had a good time there.
Then come here.
Did you get to see your familyat all yet?
Stopped by.
I think they were out forbreakfast maybe or something.
Maybe walking the dog.
Didn't quite see them, butthey'll be around later today.
Hey, that happens.
That's all right.
People keep leaving.
You know, you come home and youexpect everything to stop,
right?

(04:21):
Oh, Jake's here.
No, we're doing this right now.
Oh, yeah.
No, no.
Yeah.
They stay busy.
Oh, that's really funny.
You know, you talked about thewedding you went to.
You've had a busy June yourself.
Yes.
All right.
You had two back-to-back days.
Yes.
that were amazing things.
Can you share those things withus?
So I recently got engaged in...

(04:44):
Back, what was that?
June?
Yeah, congratulations.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
And then I recently signed aswell to play in Greece this
upcoming year.
So that was kind of aback-to-back day right there
where it was...
Have you had a better two-dayswing in your life?
I don't know that I have.
That was honestly probablylike...
You know, I was on vacation too,so I was like, I could just sit

(05:07):
there and enjoy it.
So I was like, man, I'm going tosit there and take this one in.
And who are you engaged to?
So my fiancee, Kayla Russell,she actually played basketball
at Hope College.
Oh, she did?
Yeah.
So maybe somebody listening outthere.
Big Hope Dutch women'sbasketball.
Oh, absolutely.
Shout out to them.
That's fantastic.
Yeah, she played there fromClarkson, Michigan.

(05:29):
So that's where I reside now.
Oh, you do?
Okay.
Oh, fantastic.
All right.
Well, it's really great to haveyou on.
Well, thank you.
We hear that you're playingprofessionally in Europe.
Oh, what's Jake Van Tubergendoing?
Oh, he's playing basketball inEurope.
That's cool.
And that's about all we get.
Yeah, we get some social mediaposts.
I make sure that when they comethrough, I kind of resend them

(05:51):
through the Woe Panthers, justtrying to keep our community
kind of in touch with what'sgoing on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that's one big thing for me.
People keeping up through socialmedia and everything.
It means a lot to me, as much asit's pretty simple.
But those little things kind ofgo a long way.

(06:11):
You're kind of gone for a while.
You don't see a lot of yourpeople that you're used to
seeing on a daily basis.
So those little messages go along way.
Yeah, once a Panther, always aPanther, man.
Yeah, it's really nice to stayin touch with people.
I always talk about Bill too.
The people that you're with arethe people that you share space
with.
That's where the relationshipsare.

(06:32):
You have all these relationshipsat West Ottawa because you share
space, and then we graduate andwe move on.
But there's always a lot ofaffection.
I know, Bill, you're a teacher,so you probably have that, but
there's always a lot ofaffection for people that you've
taught or they've been part ofyour athletic program and they
grow on and do things.
So that connection's stillthere, and that's why it's going
to be so great to talk.
Yeah, and it's also one of thosethings that, whether you realize

(06:56):
it or not, there's still peoplethat are in West Ottawa this
building still part of ourbasketball program that remember
when they were young kidswatching you and those teammates
and those, those teams.
We sat down with our boysbasketball team last year and
they brought up, you know, howthey were inspired by watching
your group of guys when you wereon the varsity court.

(07:17):
And now they're doing the samething for the kids under them.
So it's really special.
And that's one of the best partsof kind of high school
athletics.
Yeah, no doubt.
I mean, just being able to, comeand talk to see them grow and
just kind of seeing that, beingable to give back what I can.
I know sometimes it's not much,but just being able to go and

(07:38):
see these guys do what they doand grow up and just kind of do
the same things that you did.
So it's really cool to see.
Yeah, they were the 11-,12-year-old boys.
And you know where they sat,too.
They sat in that front rowacross from your bench, that
whole front row.
was pumped up with all theselittle 10, 11, 12-year-old boys.

(07:58):
At times, they would getdisinterested and head over to
the Ox gym and shoot hoops sothat it would be empty.
And then all of a sudden, they'dcome all back.
You remember all that, right?
Oh, yeah.
Like I said, I used to do thesame thing when my brothers
played here.
So I was, oh, they're boring.
I'm going to go shoot in the Ox.
Yeah, that's what we all did.
That's great.
Well, there's a lot of attentionin the sports community.
And what's really crazy now,too, is I didn't believe it when

(08:21):
I heard it, but your districttitle was the first one in 2017.
Yeah, yeah.
Then you guys followed up withanother one.
Well, you weren't there then,but they followed up with
another one in 2018.
Yeah.
Kobe Haglund's team in 2022 getsa district title.
And then just this past year, weget another district title.
So, I mean, the proof is thereif, you know, you invest the

(08:42):
time and obviously the resourcesare here as well.
So, you know, you invest yourtime and work.
Good things can happen.
Yeah.
Great place to be too.
Yeah.
From an athletic directorstandpoint, that's one of the
things that's always kind of topof mind for me is resources.
Right.
And like, what are some littlethings that we can do to help
try to close the gap between usand the people that we're

(09:03):
competing against?
And I think with, you know,Frank Lurchin and the strength
program and some of the otherthings, you know, video stuff
that we've done.
And now the project that we justshowed off in the gym with new
scoreboards and video boards,those things are only going to
help enhance the program.
And, you know, just, Like I wastelling you as I was walking up
here, just coming down memorylane, you know, oh, that wasn't

(09:25):
here when I was here.
That wasn't here when I washere.
So just being able to come inand, you know, seeing the room
we're sitting in is, you know,great space for a team to come
sit and be together.
And just like things like thatgo a long way.
I mean, you see it.
You do it.
So you get it.
As you walk through here.
Any specific memories that comeback to you, you know, as you

(09:47):
walked into the gym, walked intothe building?
What kind of stuff comes up inyour mind?
You know, it was more, it's notnecessarily just one moment, but
just kind of being here on aday-to-day basis, you know, and
walk these halls every day.
So just kind of come in, kind ofget that feeling like, man.
Yeah, it's a season of life,right?

(10:08):
Yeah, yeah.
I just, like, can't remember itlike it was yesterday, but...
What did we say?
It was eight years ago now.
Yeah, eight years ago.
Yeah, really two full sets ofclasses have come through since
you've been here.
Crazy.
But you still had that samefacial hair back then, didn't
you?
Maybe not as dark as it is now.

(10:30):
It was probably trying to showout.
What memories of people liketeachers and stuff?
Do you have a few teachers thatfor you, they made a...
You know, everybody makes adifference, but anybody stand
out where you're like, man, thatteacher really kind of did this
for me or that, anything likethat?
Man, this place had so manygreat teachers, man.
I know the few I can rememberoff the top of my head, I'm

(10:52):
probably not even going to do itjustice, but Mrs.
Heemstra, Mr.
Mandrick, who else am I missinghere?
And it's okay not to get itwrong.
Mrs.
Walcott, like, oh man, I knowthose three for sure were all
just like people that, you couldtell cared about what they do
and like, you know, kids needthat and you see it.

(11:15):
And that energy is kind of felt,you know, when you have somebody
that like really invested in youlike that.
So it's like, it makes you wantto be there, you know?
And then obviously some otherswho really invested in you
during your time here, coachWindemuller, coach Ottoman, for
sure.
Maybe speak to kind of what itwas like being a player for
those guys.
Oh man, it was, it was, To thisday, like every time I see them,

(11:36):
it's just like, man, youremember the days?
Just another great example ofsomebody who just is like
investing their time just allthe time.
I know Coach Ottoman, he's bigwith the Panther Fund.

SPEAKER_01 (11:50):
And

SPEAKER_00 (11:50):
I've seen some of the things he does firsthand in
terms of giving back.
And it's just, it's awesome tosee.
And having people like thataround you is only going to make
those people better.
And so just like, Getting thatexample of when I was kind of
shaping myself and who I wantedto be, getting that great
example of that was verybeneficial for me.

(12:13):
Yeah, for sure.
J.O.''s one of one, man.
Yeah, no doubt about that.
And then you're 26 years old,but guess who else is 26?
All those guys you played with.
Talk about some of thoseteammates from back then.
Are you still able to stay intouch with them?
You can speak to a few of them.
We are going through a list ofplayers kind of off the cuff.
So apologize.
Don't get everybody.
So we had Tyler Bosman, XavierWade, Nick Weirmeyer, Drew

(12:36):
Pedersen, Nolan Eckert, LiamCavanaugh, John Hoffmeyer, Danny
DeForest, Jason Fairfield, ChetJohnson, and Sean Cavanaugh,
which I want to talk aboutbecause he would always do those
late.
Do you remember that?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
All right.
But maybe talk about those guysand what that's like to grow up
with them.
And now you're older.
Do you stay in touch or?
What memories do you have ofthose guys growing up?

(12:56):
Yeah.
I mean, honestly, just, it wasnever, obviously the success on
the court was fun.
It was awesome.
But I mean, you remember we werehaving team sleepovers and team
dinners, like it seemed likeevery week.
So just like having those, yeah,just like being that tight as a
group was I think special.

(13:16):
And that's kind of why I thinkwe were successful in many ways
is because, I mean, we did seemlike we did everything together.
It seemed like I could walk downthe hall and the whole team was
sitting there walking with me.
That's how it felt being on ateam like that.
So it was just a special group.
And a lot of those guys, you getolder, you grow apart a little

(13:39):
bit.
But it's always really goodgetting back in touch with those
guys.
And you know what's great, too?
Whenever I do these podcasts, Igo into...
or read as much as I can aboutpeople, right?
So I'm going through yourInstagrams and I see little, I
see their tags on there,whatever their names, and we all
follow each other as much as wecan.
And some of that closeness, oneof the things that, you know,

(14:02):
these teams were prior to meshowing up at West Ottawa, but
one of the things that I'vealways been told is how
unselfish the team was as agroup, right?
Because you have all of theseguys who on any given team could
be the star, right?
And very ball-dominant What wasit about that group that just

(14:23):
allowed you guys to kind of havethat unselfish mentality when it
came to game time?
Well, I think obviously everyteam kind of has their growing
pains they go through.
And, you know, I think we werejust a group that saw what we
could do when we worked togetherversus...
And credit to Coach Windermillerbecause his kind of philosophy

(14:47):
was they...
you got to play unselfish.
So that was like, to this day,it's like still instilled in me
to play that way.
That's like how I know how toplay the game was because that's
how I was taught.
And so like when we kind of sawwhat we could do as a group,
we're like, Hey, like we gotsomething if we, but we got to

(15:08):
do it like this.
We can't sit here and make itabout me or him, you know?
So that was credit to coachesbecause they were able to see
that and and formulate a planand put that plan to action.
And then it was a great, like Isaid, a great group of guys that
were able to go and executethat.
And they even had that, sorry,go ahead if you want.

(15:30):
I was just going to say, if weput you down on the court right
now, could you run us throughthe motion offense?
See, that's the craziest part isthat it wasn't even like set
anything.
So it was, hey, like don't letthe ball stick.
Move it, dribble.
It was really that open?
Yes.
Wow, and that's just years ofplaying together, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Well, I mean, think if you goplay pickup with your friends,

(15:51):
you're not running stuff.
It's all instinct, right?
Especially that group in 2018.
I mean, they had been playingtogether since they were this
high, you know?
So since they were probablyfifth grade, fourth grade, maybe
even before then.
So, like, for me, it was like Ialmost...
was adjusting to fitting intothat, you know, and being able

(16:14):
to do so and understanding like,okay, like they have a special
chemistry here.
I'm not going to come in hereand, you know, blow it up.
I got to come in here and belike, right.
Cause you were a class abovethem.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
So, yeah, they, they did a nicejob that year.
It was one of the, that, thattwo year period.
And I think 2016 was a good yeartoo, but it's not coming to my
memory.

(16:35):
Yeah.
But 2017 and 2018 as abasketball fan around here.
Yeah.
It was like the best thing.
The gym was always packed.
Black hole to the top row.
And I was like, how bad are theygoing to tear this team up
tonight?
And there'd always be a run.
Usually in the third quarter,there was four dunks in a row.

(16:58):
Coaches calling timeouts,screaming at his players, get
over here, what are we doing?
These guys are all smiling,walking to the bench.
Oh, man.
I enjoyed one thing, too, duringthat time, too.
You guys, and I don't know ifthis was 2017 or 2018.
Not sure.
But Danny DeForest, JasonFairfield, John Hoffmeyer, and
Chet Johnson.
They would come in and playdefense for two or three
minutes.
Do you remember that?

(17:19):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, so they would have this.
They would be called in.
Hey, you got two and a halfminutes on the court.
You better give me everythingyou got.
So the opposing team would beplaying these highly skilled
players all in rhythm, all insync.
And when you're talented...
you're not always up on somebodybecause you don't need to be
necessarily.
But these guys would come on,again, very talented athletes,

(17:39):
and just be in their face,right?
And that's like credit to thembecause it's like, you know,
that's not an easy thing to donecessarily just to come in and
play a specific role.
But it was like, you know, itspeaks volumes to the group.
Again, like those individualsmake the group.
And, you know, you got greatindividuals, makes a great
group.

(17:59):
So, you know, it's...
makes everybody look better.
And, you know, not everybodyalways gets all the credit that
they deserve, but, like,especially that, like, those
guys made the guys who played alot better just because of,
like, what you're saying.
They're coming in, they'regetting after it, you know.

(18:20):
So, like, that makes everybodybetter.
Keeps that energy on the benchgoing.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was just, like, youknow, like you said, bring good
energy just all the time.
Yeah, for sure.
We're going to end your highschool career on that regional
game in 2017.
I watched it the other day.
I just watched the last stupidass thing, whatever it was.

(18:41):
It was a heck of a game.
It was a year where you guysprobably could have ran to the
Breslin if you get through thatgame.
Didn't go your way, but it was agreat basketball game.
I think you guys were down17-ish pretty late, and you make
this massive run.
That was quite a game.
Who was there?
We go back in history and we go,who was in that game?
There's a lot of pro athletesthat came out of there.

(19:01):
Oh, yeah.
I mean, Xavier Tillman, he hadhis camp up in Grand Rapids a
couple weeks ago.
I was up there still chopping itup about this game.
Hey, you remember?
Oh, yeah.
That's fun.
Even some of those other guys.
Dwayne Washington.
James Beck, JB.
Same thing.
It's funny how basketball bringspeople together like that.

(19:24):
Yeah, although you're going atthis.
Right.
As soon as you age and get outof that and have a different
perspective on it, you havethose conversations.
To this day, still talking aboutthat game.
I played golf with Grand RapidsChristians AD a couple of weeks
ago, and he still says thatthat's the best high school
sporting event he's ever been apart of.

(19:45):
Packed gym at Grand Haven, andthat place gets packed and loud
and hot.
I'm just like...
remember that day just beinglike, even just walking around
like school and just everybodywas just like so pumped for it.
And it's just like, maybe likejust so excited.
There was such an energy aboutit.
And, you know, the communitywas, that was just such a fun

(20:08):
time.
Like you're saying, just thattime of, you know, feeling the
community, you know, super, likeyou were saying earlier, just
super fun.
Yeah.
Yeah, when you think about highschool sports and a community
being drawn together, that's thetop of the mountain, right?
Win, lose, draw, whatever,everybody's in.

(20:29):
And that's, I mean, as a highschool kid, I can't even imagine
what that's like to be thesource of that.
Yeah, it was great times.
I mean, like I said, still tothis day, it gets brought up.
And I'm going to do the SeanCavanaugh real quick.
So Sean Cavanaugh would besubbed in late.
Game would be over, and maybelast half of the benches, if not

(20:52):
more, were in the game.
Sean Cavanaugh comes in, andwe're under a minute now.
Do you want to tell everybodyhow it used to be?
No, I want to hear what you guyssay.
Sean Cavanaugh comes in.
Now we're like, okay, we'redribbling down.
We're under 20.
Wyndham Mueller's giving him alook.
Don't you dare.
Don't you dare.
Cavanaugh's up top.

(21:13):
He goes all the way maybe to thehalf court circle, and he's up
there now, right?
Seven seconds, six, five.
Sure enough, two seconds left onthat clock.
Up it goes.
Let's go.
And he made a few, too.
Do you remember that?
Oh, yeah.
He made a few here.
Shut up, my guy, Sean.
Yeah, good old Sean Cavanaugh,so we'll give it up for him.
Yeah, yeah, great.
So coming out of 2017, thenyou're on the Grand Valley right

(21:35):
here in the backyard.
What was kind of yourrecruitment as you were as a
senior?
Was it?
really down to Grand Valley andany other schools?
So that was, I had a few other,like Davenport, Cornerstone, a
few other schools like that.
But really, it was, I reallylike Grand Valley.

(21:57):
Obviously, it was close to homeand it had kind of everything I
was looking for.
So I made that decision to gothere before even my senior year
season.
So that was, I don't know whatwould have happened if I would
have maybe got more interest, ifI would have played out that
senior year.
But honestly, I look back at itand I'm like, I'm okay with what

(22:20):
I decided.
It worked out.
But Grand Valley, I feel likeWest Ottawa in a way, just has a
very strong community.
There's a lot of really goodpeople there that supported me
and appreciative of me goingthere and being there for that
time.
I am prideful that, yeah, I'm aWest Ottawa alum.

(22:44):
Yeah, I'm a Grand Valley alum.
You were there five yearsbecause of that COVID year, so
you grabbed an extra senioryear.
I think it was Coach RickWesleyan when you were there.
I think your fourth all-time2005 points, I believe.
As a person and a player,basketball-wise, what kind of
growth did you have at GrandValley?
Maybe that surprised you.

(23:05):
How did that make you betterplaying there?
Well, I think obviously, youknow, everybody, it's like when
you graduate high school andmoving on to that next level,
it's like you're going againstkind of grown men now.
So that was kind of the biggestthing for me is I had my
physical, like even my body wasnot quite...
Gumby?

(23:26):
Yeah, I mean, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
So my body, like I was notphysically quite where I needed
to be.
So that was probably the...
most difficult part was gettingto that point, which is, it's
just hard work in the weightroom, which is not fun a lot of
the time.
So, but, you know, you find yourroutine and you learn to, learn

(23:50):
to love it.
And so that, that was, you know,credit to that coaching staff as
well, because, you know, Iprobably left West Ottawa's 180,
6'6", 180.
Yeah.
by the time i was sophomore iwas probably 200 so you know put
on some weight and you know wasable to kind of mature in that

(24:13):
way and you like the physicalgame let's be honest yeah you
like to we're gonna get to yourstyle of style of playing a
minute because i'm a massive fanof that but but you have you
have that ability you know onething i want to do too real
quick is uh I was talking toBill about this before he came
up here, but the whole Gumbything, that was a bit of a
nickname for you back then,wasn't it?

(24:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So anyways, I'm going to try andstand up and do this because it
was super fun back then.
But you'd be up super high,right?
Yep.
So what are you in high school,6'6"?
Yeah, about.
All right.
So you're up real high, but thenhe'd have this incredible
ability.
Do you know this, dude?
You would get down low, likeyou'd be down here, and I don't
know how guys would guard you.
Yeah.

(24:53):
He'd be up, boom, down here.
Yeah.
And your body positioning wasnuts.
It was just really, really fun.
Yeah, I think Coach Windermillercalled me a go-go gadget arm one
of these days.
Yeah.
We kind of get some funnycomments sometimes, but it's all
good and fun.
It is because that's your uniquequalities, right?
The body you're in is the bodyyou're in, and you have the

(25:15):
ability to do these things, sothat's cool.
Yeah, no doubt.
When you're at Grand Valley,when do you have an inkling–
that going pro is somethingthat's actually a realistic
possibility?
I would probably say...
Probably after my freshman year.

(25:39):
I think maybe it was possible.
Because from when I was probablya sophomore in high school,
that's what I wanted to do.
But I probably didn't realize,like, okay...
Everybody else did too, right?
You know, I've...
Like...
saw people do it from where iwas at and i was like okay like
i see this is possible now ijust gotta do it you know um put

(26:00):
in that that time and thateffort and stick to it and
there's a lot of days that yousit there and like man i don't
even know if this is possibleyou know those negative thoughts
come come in and you you knowjust those days that you don't
want to do it.
You just get up and you do itanyway.
You have a few advantages.
You have your physical size.

(26:22):
And then probably the biggestadvantage is playing in the
driveway with older brothers.
Yeah.
Can you talk about that, howthat helped you?
Yeah, you know, that was big forme because that was, I feel like
that kind of fast-tracked myskill and development a little
bit.
Just, you know, I was alwaysplaying against an older crowd
from when I was, could dribble aball.

(26:42):
I was playing against my olderbrothers and their friends.
I'm guessing they didn't take iteasy on you.
Oh, no.
It's a familiar thing that wehear, though.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was playing againstbigger guys when I was little,
and then I started playingpeople my own age.
Yeah, yeah, and you know...
When you're the older brother,you tend to give your little
brother a little extra.
All the business.

(27:03):
Yeah, exactly.
So the day I was able to kind ofget him back for it, get my
little revenge on them, that wasa good day.
Somebody's bleeding from the lipand it's not you.
Yeah, right.
There has to be a, so you're asenior, actually fifth year over
at GVSU.
You want to play in Europe.
There's no European draft here.

(27:24):
What is going on in thebackground to make that happen?
So one of my assistant coaches,well, I'll say all my coaches,
they were very involved with theprocess of kind of helping me
through that, which verythankful for them because they
kind of introduced me to kind ofthe business side of it, which

(27:45):
is not always the fun part, butit's important.
I've come to find out in my fewyears playing that, you know,
you got to handle your businessas well as, you know, the game
itself.
You got to be able todifferentiate between the two.
But yeah, so Coach Wallace, hereally helped me because he

(28:08):
played overseas as well.
So he was also, you know, havingsomebody to talk to and just
being guide you, you know, he,he sat there, he did it.
So he understands how the, howthe business works, got me in
the right network of people, theproper connections that I needed
to make.
And he introduced me to whobecame my first agent.

(28:30):
And so he made that introductionfor me, met him.
And at that point, it's kind oflike getting recruited to a
college almost to where it'slike, but you have people who,
that are kind of helping youwith that process and years in
there trying to find the bestfit for yourself.
So, um, so yeah, that's kind ofhow that process went.

(28:50):
Sweet.
Year one, 2022, 2023.
I'm going to try and do the nameof this team.
Okay.
I'm gonna do Vittoria.
Vittoria.
Yep.
Uh, Alvis.
Okay.
Okay.
Yep.
Uh, and, uh, Guimaraes?
Guimaraes.
Guimaraes, okay.
So this is your team.
You want to do the full nameproperly?
Vitoria Guimaraes.
All right, and this is inPortugal.

(29:11):
And the last part of that is thecity that you're in.
Can you walk us through yourfirst experience?
I mean, you must have been on aplane to Portugal at some point,
right?
This is actually happening.
Who was on the plane with you?
What's going on?
Tell us about getting there andarriving and all that kind of
stuff.
Man, that first time I left,that was tough.
I mean, I just...
I can only imagine.

(29:32):
Yeah, because, I mean, myparents' house is two minutes
away from West Ottawa.
My Grand Valley, 40 minutesaway.
So I've always been, you know,right there.
And they're the ones taking meto the airport.
My parents are dropping me off,and I'm sitting there, like,
fighting tears.
Like, man, like, oh, man.
So I was definitely feeling it,feeling pretty emotional about

(29:56):
that.
But it was...
Kind of once I got settled intowhat I was doing, it was a lot
better.
But, you know, it was just hardto put into words kind of that
experience of just like, okay,I'm going here.
Never been there.
Don't speak the language just toplay a game, which is like the

(30:20):
concept of it is a little crazy,but it's so fun.
So we've talked about this withsome of our athletes that
graduate high school and thenthey go away to college.
They really find themselveslocked into the game because
it's the thing that they knowthe most in this foreign space.

(30:42):
Yeah.
Is that kind of what happenedwith you?
For sure.
I mean, it's like, you don'twant to put all your eggs into
one basket, you know, be soinvested that it's your whole
identity.
Obviously you don't want to dothat all the time, but it's, you
know, it's what you're therefor.
So you got to keep the mainthing, the main thing.
So being able to lock in likethat, like you're saying, like

(31:04):
you've had these other guestscome and say, it's like, yeah,
you find yourself like, oh, wow,I've been here this long
already.
It's already been two months andit's feel like two days.
Like you do get into a kind of aroutine to where you're, you
know, you're not really looking,paying attention to, you're just
kind of going day by day.
And next thing you realize, Headdown, working hard, and next

(31:26):
thing you know, oh, it's alreadyDecember.
Oh, I got family coming two,three weeks.
Oh, okay.
So, you know, my parents havebeen awesome with that.
They've been able to come andvisit every place I've been able
to play, which has been super,you know, gives you something to
look forward to.
But being able to lock in andhave things to look forward to,

(31:48):
it helps a lot.
One question I always hear as Ilisten to sports radio is, What
was your welcome to the leaguemoment?
You're playing in a game, andyou're like, okay.
It's funny.
I remember, I think it was ourfirst game.
I was having a decent littlegame, but going to the basket,

(32:09):
make a good little move, go tothe basket, and I go lay it up,
and the center comes over andjust smacks it, gets it out of
here, lets me know about it,tells me, hey, better dunk that
next time.
I'm like, all right.
Got it.
Got to go dunk it next time.
So, but so yeah, that was kindof the first time I was like,

(32:30):
okay, this is, this is adifferent level.
So what other ways did you findconnection just as a person
living there?
Right.
So, you know, you're playingbasketball.
There's other ways you need to,you know, your identity is in
multiple facets.
What other things did you do tofeel comfortable there?
Feel at home in a way?
Well, I think, you know, thegame, always has it like brings

(32:53):
people together in a way andthere's always um a culture
around it so you know being abasketball player you're
generally a fan of the game aswell so being able to find
topics that you relate to withuh people and honestly you meet
like so many great people andthat you sit there and you would

(33:13):
have thought i would have neverseen this person ever in my life
that's the cool part about ityeah so i get there and say like
And then at that point, it'sjust like having a connection
with somebody else.
It's, you know, you're justsitting there chopping it up
with them, having a conversationand find out, oh yeah, like this
person is very similar to me.
They think the same, they feelthe same, you know?

(33:34):
So just being able to like makeconnections like that, like also
goes a long way in being ableto, and I think that kind of
goes back into like a group,like being on a team, you know,
you, the better you get along,the more you relate to somebody.
I feel like the better the teamand the group will be.
So that was one of the thingsI've, that's really fun.

(33:56):
Yeah.
Uh, talk to us about how theybuild those rosters there.
So they're allowed, I'll justcall it a national.
So Portuguese nationals in thatleague.
And then they allow so many, uh,imports.
Can you talk about how they, howthey set that up?
So each place you go is a littlebit different and they kind of
have their own rules, but, um,In Portugal, you could have five

(34:18):
people of non-Portuguese descentor nationality, sorry.
So there were five Americans,including myself, on my team in
my first year.
There are certain rules, and Ithink some of the teams with

(34:38):
kind of the higher budgets,they're able to kind of you
know, work their budget a littlebit better and kind of maybe
have a few more guys on theirteam that they want.
But for the most part, that'skind of the general rule of
thumb is you get Portugal'sfive.
Other places may be different.
So you have that familiaritybecause they're all in similar
situations to you.

(34:59):
Yeah.
So that's a connection.
And then just, yeah, you'replaying basketball on teams with
people.
You don't even have to speak alanguage, but if somebody drops
a nice little no look your way,that's enough to know I like
this guy.
Yeah, for sure.
You start playing basketball.
You have a really good seasonyour first year.
We're going to pull up somestats here.
You average close to 15 points agame.
Your minutes are like, how longare the games there?

(35:21):
What is that?
Four 10-minute quarters.
Four 10 minutes.
Okay, so 40 minutes.
Just really solid numbers.
I was going through all yourstats.
You have almost carried The samestat, the stat line, wherever
you go.
Have you noticed thatpersonally?
Yeah, yeah, I have.
So it's, you know.
Like you talk about aconsistent, this is what I'm
going to get out of this guy.

(35:43):
You know, like you said, I kindof know what I need to do and
know how I need to do it andwhen I need to do it.
And so I think that is kind of agood reflection of that.
me being, recognizing that.
I talked to a lot of theseyounger basketball players on
the West Ottawa team.
I said, hey, we got Jake VanTubergen coming on.
What do you want to hear aboutfrom him?

(36:05):
They said, what's his day like?
What's his week like?
Can you break down, especiallyjust for younger athletes,
you're a professional athlete,maybe just break down, I don't
know, I know it's hard to say atypical day, but maybe just do
that first and we'll go to aweek.
Maybe a game day.
Okay.
What's a game day look like foryou?
Yeah, so, usually, Depends onwhen the game is.

(36:28):
It'll differ a little bit.
If it's a later game, I'llprobably sleep in a little bit
more or we'll have a team shootaround.
So go kind of get loose, alittle warmed up, get your body
moving, get some shots up.
Just make sure your game plan iscorrect.
Make sure everything's ready togo.
Usually after that, go home, getsome food, shower, take a nap

(36:49):
and relax.
I was always jealous of theprofessional basketball players
naps.
Like you always hear in aninterview, if they're doing one
of them, what's the date?
And then I hit that nap in theafternoon.
I'm like, yeah.
Yeah.
So that's a need to nap.
Yeah.
The nap for sure.
The nap.
All right.
Yeah.
Then after that, wake up, getanother meal in.
Yeah.
Got to make sure, you know,feeling, feeling yourself

(37:10):
properly, getting, getting allyour fluids that you need,
fruits, electrolytes, whateveryou need.
Kind of everybody's a little bitdifferent on how that works.
Certain people need more thanothers, obviously.
Find a good balance for myself.
You have a go-to?
I like chicken and rice.
So chicken and rice, pregamemeal, that's usually my go-to.
I could eat that every day,honestly, if it were up to me,

(37:32):
but my fiance hates that.
I'm a big fan of chicken andrice, too.
Oh, man, it's the best.
But anyway, so usually aboutthree hours before, two or three
hours before, get to the gym andgo from there.
Get some...
lifting movements and kind ofget your body primed and ready
to go.
And then just kind of samething, get geared up and ready

(37:55):
to roll.
And then you have the leaguesover there are different.
You play one game a week.
Yeah.
That's cool.
I go through the schedule andI'm just being a North American
basketball fan.
I'm like, I look twice.
I'm like, that's a week.
What?
So you play once a week.
Very different.
Is that pretty reflective of theculture too, right?

(38:15):
Is that fair to say?
Yeah, you could say that forsure because, you know,
especially Portugal.
Portugal was, you know, they'reslow-paced compared to what I
was used to here.
Like, you know, people here in arush to sit there and sign their
bill to go do whatever.
Over there, it was like, man,you had to basically beg your

(38:36):
waiter to come back.
They're just like, leave youalone, let you take your time.
Everybody's chilling, you know,taking their time, doing
whatever they need to do.
Um, so that was like a coolaspect of it.
It definitely made you like slowdown a little bit.
And there's a lot morebasketball practice than
throughout the week.
Yeah.
What was it like as an athletejust having to do, not just not

(38:57):
the way to say it, but you'redoing one game a week.
So how different is the mentalfocus, the physical focus?
Do you feel like every time thatgame's coming up, you're kind of
primed and ready to go?
Yeah.
So that, that's kind of like theroutine that you kind of get
into.
It's very, I think, um, easierto do so you know you pretty
much know exactly when you'replaying all the time and you're

(39:20):
gonna okay i play saturday orsunday every week and so
basically you're gonna yourweeks are gonna start looking
very similar if that's whatyou're playing on every day so
you know you know your mondayyou're gonna come in get your
treatment kind of get your bodyback feeling where it's supposed
to be um get whatever you needto do in terms of health and

(39:40):
fatigue and stuff like that andthen from there on you're just
kind of trying to build yourselfback to where you need to be for
the game time so that process isuh sometimes you wish it came a
little bit faster you knowespecially if it's yeah right
and you're a basketball playerwhy would you not want to play
more than one game a week that'strue you you you want but you

(40:03):
understand that okay i gottaslow down make sure i'm properly
ready to do everything I need todo.
Yeah.
Especially if you have like aperformance that maybe wasn't
your best.
Oh, that sits there.
That's right.
You're like, man, you're like,yeah, it's not like I want to
get back out there.
I want to correct this rightnow, but you got to kind of,
that kind of sucks.

(40:24):
Yeah.
I've got to imagine though, whenit comes to game time, the
intensity level is through theroof, right?
Because you've been ready to golike a caged animal for a week.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you're just, you'reabsolutely ready to go.
So, It's a good feeling, butit's kind of a good balance,
honestly.
So I would prefer like fivedays, maybe.

(40:46):
That would be kind of a nicebalance.
Kind of allows you anopportunity to get out and
immerse yourself in the culturea little bit, though.
Yeah.
Maybe talk to us a little bitabout what that experience has
been like.
You've now gone to a couple ofdifferent places.
So that's probably the...
coolest part of the whole thingis that you just see things that

(41:09):
you would have never otherwise Ithink I said earlier like meet
people that you would have nevermet but it's also like
experiencing these placesbecause it's like oh I would
have never tried this food or Iwould have never seen this beach
or I would have never like thispast year I was in Israel and I
got to be in the Dead Sea like Iwould have never been there if I

(41:32):
wouldn't have been able to playbasketball there so that's just
like, to me, such a coolexperience.
I can sit there like, Oh yeah, Iwent there.
I did.
Yeah.
If you want her to go crazy onInstagram, I mean, I'm sure the
photos you can take of theplaces that you're at.
Yeah.
Well, he's endless.
Yeah.
He mentioned food.
So I got a touch base on thatone.

(41:54):
What is the craziest thing youhave tried in your time
overseas?
I didn't try this one, but thething that threw me off the most
was the, the, We'll serve youthe whole fish, eyes, head,
everything, bones.
And that threw me off because Iwas like.
Where's my filet?
Right.

(42:14):
I'm used to the salmon filet.
I'm not used to the whole fishbeing there.
But that one was.
Eyes taste like Skittles, by theway.
I've done it.
I'll take your word for that.
Okay.
All right.
But yeah, so some other goodfoods.
There was like falafel.
Falafel is awesome.
Shawarma.
Awesome.

(42:35):
I forget what they, they havethese little pastries in
Portugal and it's like, oh man,it's like, think of like a mini
pie, but it's like a cranberryin the little pie.
Just awesome.
Oh man.
I know Bill's looking upflights.

(42:56):
We're not going through thispodcast.
I'm forgetting the name ofthose, but they're, Oh man,
those are to die for.
Honestly.
We had a little bakery rightacross the street from there
too.
So it was just bad news.
How much are you enjoying thislife?
Oh man, I, I, I sit here and Ilike wake up every day.
I'm like, man, it's, it's a goodlife.

(43:16):
It's, it's a good life.
I mean, we all dream it.
Like, think about it.
Like, every little kid, whateversport you're playing, I don't
care.
I got a chance to go pro.
Like, you're actually doing thisright now.
It's awesome, man.
Like, good for you.
And doing it in a space that isoverseas and you're just
exposing yourself to, like yousaid before, all these different

(43:38):
people, different ways of life,different cultures.
What has that done for you askind of a young person kind of
growing into yourself and from amaturity standpoint.
Yeah, well, I feel like it, youknow, makes you kind of more of
a well-rounded person.
You know, you kind of, likeyou're saying, you see all these
different perspectives and, youknow, you kind of bring those

(44:00):
and take them with what youalready know and take these
experiences and mix them witheverybody else's.
And, you know, you just kind ofget that human experience.
So, you know, being able tospeak on things.
Oh, yeah, I've been here.
I know this.
Being able to, you know, makeconnections with people other
people.
And I think that's like thecoolest part about it is I get

(44:21):
to come and do stuff like thiswhere I can sit and talk about
it and not sound dumb.
I never even entered my mind.
Will Jake Van Tuberen sound dumbtoday?
No, but I know you don't.
Not at all.
But yeah.
So just being able to sit hereand talk about it is one of the
coolest parts.
I think first year ends.

UNKNOWN (44:41):
Mm hmm.

SPEAKER_00 (44:41):
And then you have a surgery on your left ankle, I
believe.
Yeah.
What was going on with that?
You had some, what, sprainedankles early in your career?
Yeah.
So I kind of family genetic orankles are not very good.
Oh, there's a negative withbeing 6'8".
I don't know if I should spellthat secret out there.

(45:01):
But yeah, so I had some anklesprains in it just kind of over
time, just kind of wear andtear.
And I ended up having someligaments that were torn and
kind of didn't even really knowit.
So, and it was, yeah, it wasnot, my ankle was not in good
shape.
So it was, it needed to be doneprobably a lot sooner than it
did.

(45:22):
But had it done, feels greatnow.
And so.
Well, it sure made a differencein year two.
Yeah.
So you're off, so you're off forabout, you don't play the first
third of that season.
By the way, second team, some ofthe best uniforms I've seen, by
the way, the red ones.
Yeah.
And on the chest of BillKennedy, it says immortal.

(45:43):
How better?
It does not get better thanthat.
So you got that.
This is a really cool storybecause I went through all this.
You went MVP that year.
You don't play the first thirdof the season, pretty much.
Coming off surgery, you play 15games out of, what, a 30, 35

(46:04):
game schedule?
Yeah, I think it was 30.
And you go off.
Yeah.
What happened, man?
It was just a great balance ofright timing, right place.
I was just blessed with a greatopportunity to come into a spot
where I was allowed to do a lotof things and have a lot of

(46:26):
freedom.
I was just surrounded by a greatgroup again.
That team especially, I willsay, was like...
That felt like a college team.
That felt like a high schoolteam where you're sitting there
doing stuff all the timetogether.
That was a special group.
That must have been real specialbecause that's not a lot of

(46:47):
actual time spent.
I mean, sure, time of the dayspent together, sure.
But if we go over and talk aboutweeks and months, that's short.
Yeah.
I mean, it was December.
Any few players stand out to youthat...
really made a difference?
I mean, just a lot of guys, TreyBarnes, Derek Jackson, Ryan
Weber, these guys who are fellowAmericans, Brandon Ogburns,

(47:08):
these guys are just come in, youknow, and we weren't the best
team, but we, you know, kind ofwere very aligned in how we saw.
And my coach, Bernardo, he wasamazing.
awesome as well.
I still have conversations withhim every other week to this
day.
Like I said, you meet greatpeople and being able to sit

(47:32):
here and talk about that isexciting to me.
Having those relationships tothis day with these guys, I have
a bunch of friends that I've oneof my good friends that I played
with in my first year.
We've hung out and never hungout in the U.S., And he's one of
my good friends.

(47:52):
And so he was playing for adifferent team in Israel.
We were in Portugal together.
Saw him down in Mexico.
We just happened to be kind ofin the same area.
So it's just like you get tocarry on these relationships.
And they just are specialbecause you shared that time
together.
And that experience with that,not many people can sit there
and say they did.

(48:13):
So you can always share thatwith each other.
And that second team is on thesouthern coast of Portugal.
Yeah.
Yeah, we saw that.
We saw that, and I'm like, oh,that's probably not a terrible
place to be.
That is my recommended travelspot, if I'm being honest.
That was a great time downthere.

(48:34):
Can you do the full name of theteam and the place where you're
at?
The team was Immortelle Lusigas,and the town was Albufera,
Portugal.
Albufera.
Yeah.
Nice.
I know a lot of...
people will go.
That's like a very touristy spotapparently for people in Europe

(48:54):
is to go to kind of the Southerncoast there.
Thank you, agent.
Nice job.
I'll tell you.
Hey, look, I got you up in a,it's cold up here.
No, we're taking you to theSouthern coast of Portugal.
So it's a tourist destination.
Yeah.
Beautiful place.
Plenty of stuff to do.
So that was a, that was a greattime playing with full tans
every game.
For sure.

(49:16):
Yeah.
That's really funny.
Let's talk about your game alittle bit, you know, at six,
eight, uh, watching bill.
We know we were just watchingheights for the past few years.
I love your game so much.
Thank you.
Like really it's, you know,sometimes when you watch a
basketball player, you almostlook for deficiencies.
Like that's the natural.
Oh, he's good at this.
He's good at that, but he don'tdo that.

(49:37):
I mean, I think, I think myfunnest part, I love your spin
moves, uh, I love your kind oflike holding the ball at the
side at the top and being onyour guy.
I love when you go down to thepost.
You bang down there.
What is some of your favoritethings that you love to do in
the court?
Maybe just two or three littlethings that, hey, this is who I
am.
This is what I love to do.
And you ain't going to stop me.

(49:59):
You know, that's, I don't know.
I just, I think the whole thingis just, I love it.
the game so much that it's justlike every little part of it.
I enjoy even the boring partsthat people are like, I think a
lot.
Getting that rebound is fun,right?
I love that.
Yes.
I don't know.
It's just very hard for me todescribe exactly why, but it's

(50:21):
just like, I find joy in everysingle little part of it,
whether it's playing defense orgetting a rebound or getting a
steal, making a pass, everysingle part of it.
It's just like, I, I'm enjoyingthis.
And the no looks.
Yeah.
How fun are those, right?
Oh, man, they're the best.
They're the best.
I never saw you play in highschool.

(50:43):
I think I saw you play one timeat Grand Valley.
I've watched some highlights,but I'm just always amazed at
kind of the vast array of yourgame, right?
You can go down in the post.
You can play on the outside.
You're going to play defense.
You're going to rebound.
What is an area that you as aplayer maybe think to yourself,
oh, that's a spot that I'mconstantly chipping away at and

(51:06):
trying to get better.
Yeah, for me it was always kindof the physicalness and
conditioning.
So it was always me trying to bein better shape or get a little
bit stronger so I can, like yousaid, go down the post a little
bit easier, make that backside alittle bit easier.

(51:27):
So that was always kind of thefocus that I've like, okay, you
know, you got your skills.
There's a good foundation thatyou have for that.
So just making sure that you'reon top of staying, making sure
your skills are good.
And then really just every timeyou are either trying to get in

(51:47):
shape or in the weight room,just attack it.
As much as it's going to suck,just attack it.
You've done a nice job withthat.
I have a couple of fun things Iwant to do here real quick.
One thing I was telling aboutthis earlier, I grew up in
Canada, so we would always getFrench television stations.
And Gary Carter and Andre Dawsonwere the players back then.
So it would be, and then GaryCarter.

(52:09):
The same thing is happening withyou when I was watching your
highlights, is they're speakingin Portuguese.
And I'm not going to do this ina disrespectful way.
Have you ever seen any of thatstuff?
It's so much fun because...
you know, it's, it's heightenedenergy, Portugal, Spain area.
And they're, they're just goingout and then there's the, it's

(52:30):
so much fun.
Yeah.
That was really fun.
Do you ever get mistaken for aDutch player?
Yeah.
That's a, I've got that quite abit, especially like being from
Holland, Michigan, like thatthrew people off so much because
I'd be like, Oh, I'm fromHolland.
And they're like, Oh, likeNetherlands.
And I'm like, no, what are youtalking about?
It's like, no, it's a town.

(52:51):
I promise.
It's a real place.
Um, so that was always funny.
Uh, having that conversationwith people.
I was gonna say that must'vebeen happening all the time.
Yeah.
Let's go into some of the reallycool things about playing in
Europe.
Let's go to the arenas first.
Okay.
Uh, tell us about, they're allwhat?
Two to 6,000 ish.
Um, what's the sizes normally?
Or a little smaller.
In Portugal, a little bitsmaller.

(53:13):
Israel, they, they got, uh,pretty big some of the kind of
top level teams there are gotsome money and some fans so that
was but yeah I would saygenerally between two I think
the most would probably be likeeight maybe yeah but yeah in
that range all right and talkabout the crowds the atmosphere

(53:33):
during game time when thoselocal crowds come out for those
games it's like oh man it's thebest you know that was like one
of the cool things about thispast year where I was playing is
that the sense of communitythere was very strong as well.
And it was a little bit of a,I'll say a little bit of an
older crowd.
No offense to them, but it justis what it is.

(53:53):
So, but they would, you know,you felt that energy still, even
though despite that.
So it was, it's, you know, it'sjust kind of nothing like that.
Yeah.
And I see, I saw a lot of drums.
They do that all game long?
Yeah, they just sit there.
The same beat.
It doesn't matter where you go.

(54:13):
It's the same beat in the samegym.
You could go two hours away.
They're doing the same beat.
Oh, it's the same beat too?
Yeah.
Just everybody does it.
I don't know.
It was one of those things thatkind of...
it was one of those things thatkind of stuck out to you at
first.
Cause I, for me, it was like alittle bit annoying, but then

(54:36):
you kind of like, okay, likeeverybody's into it.
Like, all right.
Like it was all going on duringfree throws too.
They're just doing their thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just make the free throw.
Yeah.
Get over it.
Get over it.
What's the travel situation likeyou guys on buses?
Yeah.
Usually.
Yeah.
Usually just like a charter bus.

(54:57):
So my experience is, I had tofly a few times, but a few long
bus rides, but nothing like wedid that in college, too.
You know, you got to go up.
You got to play tech andnorthern and stuff.
Double digit hour rides in thesame state.
Yeah, right.

(55:17):
And tell people that like, what?

UNKNOWN (55:19):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (55:20):
Favorite arenas, favorite towns you've been in?
Maybe that were a littlequirkier, like, oh, this is
really cool.
I love playing here.
I loved Porto.
Porto was really cool.
Just that city in general, noteven just the arena.
What was about it?
What about it did you like?
It just is, it has everything.
It has nightlife.

(55:40):
It has stuff to do.
It has touristy areas.
It has beaches.
It has busy areas.
It has everything.
everything and I know I'm notdoing it justice.
My niece has traveled a lot andshe says that Porto is one of
the very top on the list.
I actually had an opportunity togo play there but didn't end up
working out but had some fellowbasketball players that were

(56:05):
like You got a chance to gothere and you didn't go?
What is wrong with you?
Hey, man, I'm sorry.
All right, all right.
So that's a great place.
That's really sweet.
So a lot of fun things thatyou're doing, a lot of good
work.
Year three, you head to Israel,Israeli Basketball League.
Can you explain to us the levelsof leagues in Europe, too?
Because it's not all the same,right?

(56:26):
Yeah.
There's different levels.
Can you explain that?
So every country has its ownleague.
Within that league, there'sprobably...
a few teams in each league thatwill all go play in a different
league or competition.
It's very similar to ChampionsLeague soccer.
It's very similar to wherethere's the Euro League, they

(56:49):
have a Europe Cup, Euro Cup, anda FIBA Champions League.
All of those four are higherlevels than rather just playing
in said domestic country.
You sound very smart, by theway, right now.
Well, I've had to answer thisquestion quite a bit.
When you say in said domesticcountry, you're bringing it.

(57:10):
I've had to answer this questionquite a few because I had to get
good because, honestly, it tookme a good two years to really
understand how it worked.
And so I haven't had anopportunity to go play in kind
of those bigger– those leaguesare– better.
Like they have the better teams,the teams with the higher

(57:31):
budgets, more talent, you know,you go and you're playing more
games and more travel.
So naturally it makes sense thatthey're a little bit kind of
higher paying, more talent wise.
So that's kind of how it works,you know, versus the European
competition versus the in-house,I guess.

(57:51):
And you have a, you have a, thatwas your just most recent
season.
Again, your stats are, Statsare, you're so consistent.
So there you average for, youplay 25 games.
This is on here.
This, this is just something Ifound.
You're playing close to 30minutes a game.
So 30 out of 40 ish, you know,again, almost, almost 15 points

(58:12):
a game field goal percentage,33% three point percentages in
the high, you know, mid forties.
Like, so that's a level up andyou still maintain that those
levels as well.
Yeah.
And that, that, This past yearwas probably, basketball-wise,
one of the more difficult onesI've had.
Kind of had a lot of ups anddowns.

(58:33):
Kind of, I didn't start well.
I think my first game out there,I didn't score, which I had
never done that before.
And so, yeah, kind of wentthrough that a little bit.
Had a stretch in the seasonwhere I wasn't playing because
of that import limit we weretalking about earlier.
So they decided to go adifferent direction.

(58:54):
And so...
you know you're still doingeverything like you're part of
the team but you know that wasthe first time i ever was not
playing because like i waschosen not to play so that was
the first time that ever reallyhappened for me so that was kind
of how'd you get through thatyou know i leaned on my support

(59:15):
a lot my fiance was very veryhelpful in that time my family
my support system was awesomeand then just leaning on my
faith as well that was reallybig for me um that I've grown
into as well.
Right.
There's a plan for you.
Right.
Right.
Exactly.
So that's, that's the, mysupport system, my faith.
That's pretty much how I gotthrough that.
And then just realizing like,Hey, like you're, you're here

(59:38):
for something.
Might as well make the most ofit, you know?
So just, you know, got back towork and ended up working out.
So, you know, anybody in life isgoing to have that time of
adversity or where your questionis.
you know that's an identityquestion too right if you're all
basketball not that you're notthat you shouldn't be right but
you like you said you have yourfaith and you have your fiance

(59:59):
you have your support circleit's all that kind of stuff
where you can weather thosestorms exactly exactly i'm
always um very appreciative ofyou know being able to come and
give those people credit becauseyou know i i would say for
myself for sure i wouldn't bewhere i am with All the people

(01:00:19):
in my life, really.
Just being able to give them thecredit they deserve and make
them feel appreciated for thethings they've done for me
because it means a lot.
What's the size of your family?
Is it just your two brothers?
Do you have more than that?
I've got two older brothers andan older sister as well.

(01:00:39):
Who's been able to see youoverseas?
Have friends been able to comeover?
Family?
Who's been able to come visityou?
My parents have made it everysingle year.
So shout out.
That's fun.
That's nice.
Yeah.
My fiance, my fiance has well aswell been to every place I've
been.
So that's been awesome.
And she lives in the U S yeah.
Yeah.

(01:01:00):
So doing that distance is tough,but we're we're making it work.
So but, and then one of mybrothers came and visited my
first year in Portugal as well.
So, you know, and then Nolan,Nolan Ecker, He came over.
He did?
Yeah, he came over and a fewother friends came over my

(01:01:22):
second year.
Nolan Eckert has a really goodstory too, by the way.
Yeah.
Because he got cut as a junior.
Yeah.
Played in, what's the league?
The Church League.
Played in the Church League.
Comes back in that regionalfinal game.
Guess who's guarding XavierTillman?
Nolan.
Guess who's sitting on his hip?
Nolan.
And whatever the differential isin weight, and that kid did a

(01:01:44):
job that night.
Yeah, he did.
Yeah, to this day, that's one ofmy closest friends.
So being able to share that bondand sit there.
We get to go play again todaytogether, which is the first
time we've been able to do that.
So I'm looking forward to that.
You're going to have a good timetoday.
We'll get to that in just asecond.
But yeah, you have a nice gamethat you're going to do today.

(01:02:05):
For sure.
You just signed with Peristeri?
Yep, Peristeri.
Peristeri Greek League.
It was just on Instagram, Ithink yesterday.
Yep.
So you're going to be in Athens,Greece.
So you talk about culture andlife and meeting people.
You're going to be in Athens,Greece.
How did that come about?

(01:02:25):
I mean, because that's anotherstep up, correct?
Or similar?
Or very similar?
They're pretty similar.
So this will be the first timeI'm able to kind of play in
those European competitions Iwas talking about earlier.
So in that sense, yes, in thatsense, it is a little bit of the
pretzel ball.
Do they have the pretzel ball?
No, I don't know.

(01:02:46):
Oh, you know, like this, theball that's, uh, I think you've
had it in games where it's notlike the, Oh yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
I call it the pretzel.
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, but so, but yeah, other thanthat, it's, uh, pretty similar.
I would say, is it always, is italways difficult to transition?
Like this is your, uh, Thirddifferent country, your fourth
different team in four years.
I think, Bill, you were tellingearlier that that's kind of the

(01:03:08):
modus operandi, isn't it?
Yeah, I mean, the only reason Ihave any connections with
European basketball is I'm adiehard University of Maryland
fan, and they always have dudesthat go overseas, and you just
see it's very transient.
You're at one team, and the nextyear you're at another club,
probably because there are somany, and then there's a

(01:03:30):
leveling up opportunity, right?
Right.
You going to play in Greece isgoing to allow you to play in
those bigger competitions.
That's really fun.
That's exciting.
I enjoy that aspect of it, eventhough at times it can be a
little unfamiliar.
It comes with the territory ofyou don't really know where

(01:03:53):
you're going to end up.
But being able to sit there andlike, okay, Greece, yeah, that
sounds fun.
You know what, though?
That's like being human.
Whenever there's something new,there's always some anxiety.
How is it going to be?
How is it going to turn out?
And guess what happens most ofthe time, folks?
Everything's all right.
Everything's going to be justfine.

(01:04:13):
And you really end up enjoyingyourself.
Yeah, and that processdefinitely makes you practice
that.
Otherwise, you're just going tosit there and you're going to be
a mess.
And nobody wants to be a mess.
No.
No, we all have that, too, forsure.
For sure.
One of the things we're reallyproud of here at West Ottawa is
the kind of diverse environmentthat our school produces with so

(01:04:37):
many kids from so manybackgrounds and cultures.
Do you think that your time hereat West Ottawa in kind of that
environment helped you as youwent overseas?
I think so, for sure.
Because, I mean, like you said,this is a very diverse place to
be.
And it kind of allowed you tosee things maybe you wouldn't
normally see elsewhere.

(01:04:58):
In other schools, like myfiancee, I was telling her about
this.
I was like, oh, yeah, no, ourschool is very diverse.
And she's like, just kind of,you know, teasing me about it.
But I was like, she was like,why do you care about that?
I was like, because it's cool.
I can sit here and I see a lotof different things.
Yeah, it's that shared humanity.

(01:05:19):
Like, you know, we don't knowsomething.
You kind of maybe stay away fromit or scared of it.
And all of a sudden you're like,oh.
You're like that too.
You know what I mean?
Like the humanity just comesthrough.
So that's really cool thatyou're able to do that.
And West Donald does a reallywonderful job with that for
sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No doubt.
And I think like credit toeverybody here, they make

(01:05:40):
everybody, I feel like they do agreat job of, you know, trying
to make sure everybody'sincluded, you know, that was a
big thing.
You know, you see everybody,it's very welcoming here.
I feel, you know, in myexperience, I can't speak for
everybody, especially for as bigas we are.
You know, you got 2,300 kids.
Yeah.
I was meeting with some friendsearlier this week.

(01:06:01):
They're looking at possiblyrelocating and, you know, their
concerns are like, are our kidsgoing to be able to find
themselves and kind of findtheir tribe within the group?
And I'm like, that's what weexcel at is there's something
literally for everyone here.
So, yeah, no, there's a greatsense of culture.
And I feel like you can see thatkind of every point.
And whether you're looking atthe athletic department, whether

(01:06:22):
you're looking at theadministration, you know, you
kind of get that sense of like,okay, we're here to, you know,
come and bring people along withus.
And that's, that's, it'simportant.
So, I mean, you see, you walkaround here, you see all the
things that are different.
Like the stadium's awesome.
The new PAC, awesome.

(01:06:44):
I see the pool being built.
Awesome.
Like, So for me, being anathlete, you get there and you
see that.
It's like, man, that's reallycool.
Yeah, it's so cool.
There's so much great stuffgoing around here.
Bill Kennedy gets to be the ADhere.
It's unreal.
Did you ever pinch yourselfthere, buddy?
That's his own littleplayground.
I do.
It's nuts.

(01:07:04):
And you know what's fun aboutBill, too?
He wants to show you that newstuff, too.
Hey, come over here.
I'm so excited about it.
We got this.
Yeah, I remember when we touredthe football stadium when it
opened and I was like, man.
If we had had this, I probablywould have played my last two
years.
Yeah, you would have playedfirst two years, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I was walking with somelegends.
Van Tubergen and Tyler Bosma forthe stadium tour.

(01:07:26):
Oh, yeah.
It was a good tour.
Good time.
As we finish this up, we'regetting close to the end.
What are you looking forward toin this upcoming year in Greece?
What can fans of Peristeriexpect from you as a player as
you join their club for theupcoming season?
I mean, you're going to getsomebody who...
in myself who is fullycommitted.
You know, I'm going to bring myfull effort, my full emotion, my

(01:07:50):
full everything I have to, youknow, come and try and be the
best I can.
So, I mean, that's what I'm...
That's what I try to strive foris being the best I can.
And, you know, I'm just superexcited to be able to go to a
new place.
A place I've always wanted to goas well.
Yeah, now you're going to beliving there.

(01:08:11):
Yeah, so it's...
get to say that.
You're going to be living inAthens, Greece.
That's really cool.
That's exciting.
That's really fun.
I find that fun.
Does it ever hit you?
We'll just kind of slow it downjust for a touch here.
But being a professionalathlete, any kids who are
listening to this, young kids orhigh school athletes, at some

(01:08:34):
point in their life we all thinkmaybe that's us.
Right?
And then At some point, no one'sasking you to do this anymore.
No one's asking you to be ontheir college team.
No one's asking you to be on thehigh school team.
And it stops.
For you, I'm sure it getsnormalized because you do it
every day.
But if you had to talk to a10-year-old or a 12-year-old
Jake Van Tuber again.
So just take a minute and thinkof yourself at that age.

(01:08:56):
Go back a little bit.
What in the world would that kidthink about this right now?
He'd think he's living hisdream.
So to sit there and be able tosay that.
From that age, I always knew Ireally loved sports.
And to sit here, and like yousaid, not everybody's in there

(01:09:16):
being able to do that every day.
I get to go bounce a ball aroundfor a few hours, and that's what
I get to do for my job.
A 10-year-old me would thinkthat's awesome.
And to this day, I still thinkthat.
Yeah, I think 26-year-old JakeVenturion thinks it's awesome,
too.
I thoroughly enjoy it.
There's nothing else I'd ratherdo.
All right, well, we're going toget out of here.

(01:09:38):
You play in the Tulip Citytip-off.
Yes, sir.
Game starts at 3 p.m., so we'vegot a little bit of warm-up
time.
Yep.
So we want to thank you so muchfor coming in.
You get to see all those guys,too.
Let's go through who's going tobe in this game.
I mean, let's keep track of someof these guys, but you want to
go through some of the playerswho are there today?
Yeah, so Corriante DeBerry jumpsout.
I was the athletic director atForest Hill Central when he was

(01:09:59):
at Holland, and that was great.
That was a grown man.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Demetrius Lake, he's one I hearabout all the time from Coach
Chapman because Chap had himchucking shots like crazy in the
dome.
I watched him drop 50 on ourfloor.
Clayton Dykhaus is actually ourJV boys coach right now, so

(01:10:20):
it'll be fun to see him out.
You've got Stegenga, who was atHolland Christian, Jalen
Overway, who's still playing atCalvin right now.
Yeah, I believe so.
And these are all the guysyou're playing with today.
So it's going to be pretty fun.
I'm super excited for it.
So shout out to Corey for kindof putting this event together.
Oh, he does that.
Yeah.
Really?

(01:10:40):
I think this is the third orfourth year.
Yeah.
So they've had it now.
Yeah.
And this is the first time I'llbe able to participate.
So two years ago you were in thecrowd with your boot on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was there in that photo.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, we want to thank you somuch for coming in.
It has been like a real pleasureto sit down and talk with you.
We wish you the absolute best.

(01:11:00):
and your upcoming year,everything else in your life and
your engagement and all thosethings.
Thank you.
Just really proud to, like forus, it's just really nice to
have somebody that's been awayhere for a while and come on
back and sit down with you.
It's special.
Yeah, no, it's been great beingable to come here and be able to
share that with you guys.
So thank you for being able, forhaving me and allowing me to

(01:11:23):
ramble on.
Yeah.
No, when you're in pretty goodrambles, no, when you're in
Greece putting up shots, you'vegot a big group of people back
here in Holland.
Yeah.
Uh, cheering for you.
So thanks so much for coming in.
Well, thank you.
I appreciate it.
All right.
Remember everybody, we are WestOttawa.
We are community and we are eachother.
Sweet.
Awesome.