Jake Lavis was roughly four or five years old when he picked up a basketball for the first time. He started playing organized basketball in the second grade as a member of his elementary school team, the Good Shepherd Rams in Lincoln Park, Michigan. Lavis explained to me how he didn't start to love basketball until maybe his freshman year of high school:
"Once I started to play travel basketball, going to AAU tournaments and different camps, that is when I started to enjoy it a little more. I was more of a football guy before that,"Lavis mentioned.
He continued and talked about when he began to love the game and the main reason he chose basketball:
" I began to love the game when I realized that it was something I could work on by myself. I didn't need someone to play catch with, like in baseball or football. I could get shots up or dribble on my own."
The oldest of Kelly and Joe Lavis' two kids the family lives in the Detroit area. Joe used to be in law enforcement and now does security for executives at Ford. Kelly works as an admin at Blue Cross in Detroit, while sister Hannah will be graduating from the University of Michigan in December and going to graduate school at Baylor.
When asked what the best part of childhood was, Jake gave no hesitation:
"The best part was playing sports. It was hectic but a lot of fun. For quite a few years I didn't have a single day off between baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. I was very busy, but I was doing what I loved."
When asked what quality he received from both parents, Lavis gave a quick answer:
"No question to me that the one quality that I got from both my mom and dad was work ethic."
Lavis attended Good Shepherd which was a small private grade school, before going to his local public school, it was called Wyandotte Roosevelt High School. When asked about his high school experience the Michigan native gave these thoughts:
"High school was very fun, being a three-sport athlete. We were a football powerhouse, so much of my high school experience was dedicated to activities around football. Another thing that I am proud of is the fact that I was very focused in school, graduating seventh in my class."
When it came time to make a college decision, Lavis knew that he wanted to play a sport and ultimately decided it would be basketball rather than football.
Then, Coach Tim Koenig played a big part in the decision. Lavis spoke about that a bit:
" I was not really sure what I wanted to do and looked into a variety of schools. After speaking with Coach Koenig for a couple months, I ultimately decided he was the type of coach that I would want to play for, and it made the decision fairly easy. The other school I was considering was West
Point."
Lavis only spent one season as a member of the Notre Dame College Men's Basketball team in 2014-15 before transferring to Case Western Reserve. He gave a thought on his time at NDC:
" I loved my time at NDC. Although it was brief, I enjoyed every minute of it and met so many great people that I still stay in touch with today. The group of guys that I played with that season was a great group of guys. Everyone on the team got along really well and even outside of basketball everyone spent a lot of time together."
Will Vorhees was a freshman on that 2014-15 squad and talked about the battles that happened daily as well as his role:
"What I remember most about the 2014-15 season was there being an unknown; Who was going to play and how much, along with the older players competing with younger players for minutes,"Vorhees said.
Kyauta Taylor talked about the team underachieving that season:
"My first thought on that team was, I was a freshman so I did not know what to expect. It was a very talented team. We had a lot of players that could play but I feel like we underachieved,"Taylor said.
As for his first meeting with Lavis, Vorhees told me what he remembered:
"My first encounter with Jake, we lost in a game of two on two, when he and I faced Taylor and Gus Banks."
That was also the first time that Taylor met Lavis:
" That was the first time I met Jake as well as a matter of fact and the one thing I remember about it was that Jake was very upset about losing. He was a really funny guy. He always had jokes and knew how to brighten up the mood. I also noticed he loved shoes, he talked a lot about shoes. Jake was a Detroit guy and he loved to talk about how great Detroit was, but as was the case that first day I met him, he hated to lose."
Connor Deckard was a senior on the 2014-15 squad and talked about meeting Lavis and his dad on their recruiting visit:
" I remember from his recruiting visit being introduced to Jake and his dad, and thinking that he would be a great fit with the group of guys that we had. Plus, Coach (Jason) Mountain told me he would be someone I would enjoy having as a teammate and he was right, like he was most of the time,"Deckard said.
Another thing that was evident with that group was the closeness and how well they got along. The freshman class that season was loaded with Vorhees, Taylor, and Oliver Megins amongst others. Vorhees talked about the best part of being a freshman on that team as well as the one big disappointment:
"The best part about being a freshman on that team was gaining experience and learning from our leaders like Tyree Gaiter and Deon D'Armond. The worst part was basically being a .500 team."
Deckard answered the same questions:
" The best part of that team was by far the closeness of that group. The bonds formed on that team will last a lifetime. This past summer Dylan Hickoff got married and it was so awesome having that group back together like old times. The worst part of that season was some of the personnel moves that were made, honestly. It's "water under the bridge" now so i'm ok bringing it up, but there were some decisions made that season that weren't popular. Looking back, people knew they were not the right decisions. However, those never took away from, again, what I mentioned was the best part of that group, how close we all were."
Deckard told me that Lavis was a great teammate, and he will always remember that. Even when he wasn't playing as much as he would like, he was always right there celebrating on the bench and supporting his teammates. "Jake is the type of teammate we should all strive to be,"Deckard said.
Taylor agreed:
" The best part about having Jake as a teammate was he was always uplifting. He was very selfless. He would always help you out first before he would think about himself.
Deckard talked about how competitive practices were with that group:
"Practices were always really competitive, because of the talent we had that year. When you have Gaiter, D'Armond, and Vorhees all on the floor at the same time you know there is going to be some competition. We had a lot of guys who loved to compete and play hard on that team."
Lavis also spoke of one big lesson that was learned that season. There were a lot of opportunities to learn what good, and even sometimes bad, leadership is like. The seniors that year were all great and were a good example to learn from as freshmen."
One thing about that version of NDC hoops was that it was a young team that was still learning. NDC was 11-3 at home that season, but 16-14 overall. Vorhees spoke about learning to win:
" We have always been pretty solid at home. We definitely have an advantage in Murphy Gymnasium. Freshman year was different because I didn't have a spot guaranteed to me. I had to outplay others in order to get significant minutes. "
Vorhees continued about the inconsistencies:
"Yes our youth caused some inconsistencies and we suffered from that mainly on the road. Great teams win on the road and we hadn't figured out how to do that yet."
Lavis commented on the advantages of being at home:
"All of our games were always packed. Our crowd made it a tough place to play. Even though it wasn't the biggest gym, it was often the loudest and probably the most packed in the conference."
Lavis also talked about the road as well, and where the toughest road venue was they played:
" West Liberty was probably the toughest environment and opponent. Not only are they consistently great teams, their fans bring it too, and they crowd the place."
Despite the road struggles, road trips were still some of the most fun times these guys spent together. "Road trips were fun, they pretty much consisted of goofing off, and Ollie doing something absurd, "Vorhees said.
Deckard agreed:
" Road trips were honestly one of the best parts of that year. That team was above and beyond my favorite i've ever been a part of. We always found something fun to do on the road like team "Kemps" Tournaments, thrift store raids, movie theater runs etc. That group was the most entertaining team I have ever been on."
When asked to describe something about Lavis that people may not know Taylor gave his thought:
" Jake loves Swaggy P, A.K.A Nick Young from the NBA, it's like his idol or something. Another thing that most of his friends know, but we have in common is that we both love shoes."
Vorhees gave a similar thought:
" Jake is a shoe guru but a lot of people probably know that (ha ha.) "
Lavis did not get many minutes in his one season as a player. But he explained the process:
" I did not get may minutes, but I definitely stayed in the gym. I feel like I really pushed myself and worked a lot to try and get more minutes. My coaches and parents also pushed me to keep working and it would pay off. When I decided to transfer, Coach TK definitely pushed me to continue playing and was very helpful in reaching out to coaches and schools that he thought would be a good fit."
In this uncertain time with the coronavirus, when asked about his five greatest basketball movies of all time Lavis went in no particular order with Hoosiers, Coach Carter, More Than A Game, White Men Can't Jump and Semi-Pro.
Deckard talked first about all the clowning around that happened in that particular season, and then how he and Lavis still talk to this day:
"It is honestly impossible to answer who was the biggest clown on that team because we had so many that year. We had such a great group that year who all loved to have a good time. Every time with that team was a guaranteed laugh because someone was going to do something hilarious. That was my favorite group of teammates I ever had."
Deckard continued:
" We still talk. Jake and I still talk probably once a week over text. Plus with him being back in Cleveland, I get to see him quite a bit as well. I have really enjoyed staying close with Jake, I value his friendship a great deal."
Deckard told me that Jake has always been one of those people that you enjoy being around. He has an infectious personality and enjoys having a good time. He was a great teammate on and off the court, and it was great having him around my senior year, Deckard told me.
Taylor admitted to me that it did affect him when Lavis transferred:
" It did affect me when Jake left NDC. I felt a good friend leave NDC when he left."
Taylor continued and told me how he still connects with Lavis through social media:
" We do still speak. I'll comment on his social media whenever he does something funny."
Lavis explained to me that since he has left the college game , the style has changed a bit:
"Just in the few years that I have been away from the game I think the run-and- gun three-point style has become even more popular. We started to see it when I was playing, but I think even more teams rely on it now-a-days."
Lavis is currently in law school, works at a law firm, and does legal work for a commercial real estate company. He closed by saying he wouldn't change a thing if he could do it all over again:
"A lot of my really good friends to this day are guys I played with at NDC. Although I wasn't there long, I built a lot of relationships that have continued to last. If I could do it over again, I honestly would not do anything differently. You would probably think i'd say I regret even going to NDC because I was there such a short time, but if it weren't for NDC I would have never met many of my friends today. I would have never transferred to Case, and then probably would have never ended up in law school and working here in Cleveland. I now consider Cleveland home and NDC was basically my introduction to the city."
Pictured from left to right: Hannah Lavis- Kelly Lavis- Joe Lavis- and- Jake Lavis
Jake Lavis and sister Hannah
Jake as a member of the 2014-15 NDC Falcons
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