Jake Witt: the UP's Best-Kept Secret
December 22, 2017
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
ESCANABA – You would think it difficult to be a 6-foot-7 athlete and weigh 235 pounds and not be known outside your home area.
It can happen. And it did happen.
Jake Witt has basically flown beneath the radar of high school sports aficionados heading into the final months of his high school career. That despite the fact he is perhaps the premier senior athlete in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and among the best in the state.
The Ewen-Trout Creek senior has scored more than 1,000 points and is close to 1,000 rebounds in basketball. He is a two-time 8-player all-state football selection, earning those honors after the only two seasons he played football.
He lives about 10 miles from tiny Ewen, where E-TC is located on M-28 about 55 miles from the peninsula's western border with Wisconsin. His school has fewer than 100 students and plays basketball against mostly similar-sized schools from its side of the U.P.
Only a handful of colleges even knew about him, in either sport, primarily because of location and the fact he did not participate in the travel ball circuit. Michigan Tech University, about 70 miles north of his home, knew all about him and offered him a basketball scholarship. Witt signed his letter of intent this fall.
Northern Michigan University, about 110 miles east in Marquette, was in football contact with him before basketball got on board. NMU's basketball team was Witt's second choice behind Tech, where he had participated in some team camps.
Wisconsin-Green Bay was the lone Division I school on his trail, although Northwestern University showed some initial interest. Ferris State and Grand Valley State – which play in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with Tech and NMU – also were interested.
"It was nice not having as much attention and having a low profile," Witt said a day after the Panthers beat Bessemer 63-59 last week to raise their record to 4-0 this season. "It was nice playing on a team that does not have much hype. I can just go out and play."
Despite the low profile, it is surprising he escaped notice on the recruiting trail. After all, how many players his size run the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds, are used as the primary ball handler on the press break, shoot 3-point field goals with 50 percent accuracy and dominate inside despite constant double- and triple-team defenses?
"He is a big-time athlete, a big-time performer in the U.P.," said veteran Tech coach Kevin Luke. "He is bigger, faster and stronger than anybody up here."
With that pedigree, it is surprising Witt escaped attention of the major schools, although the U.P. is far from even the outlying recruiting paths and not known as a breeding ground for high-caliber cagers – and Witt has not played in Lower Michigan or Wisconsin.
"If he played just one summer of AAU ball (or played downstate) he would have had a ton of Division I schools after him," said E-TC coach Brad Besonen, adding "his location and not advertising himself" were factors in his lack of attention.
Witt had an opportunity to join a travel team in Escanaba, but declined because of six-hour round-trip drives for practice on Wednesday and Sunday nights in addition to lengthy travel for games. "It was mainly my location," he said of avoiding travel teams.
The colleges that did not chase Witt may have missed someone who could be a big contributor.
"We rely on him for everything," said Besonen, citing his protection of the basket that includes blocking shots and/or forcing shot adjustments, ball-handling and floor-wide scoring skill. "He is very agile, has great feet and excellent body control."
Besonen said Witt's lack of "advertising himself" is because of strong family ties, which also were a factor in his decision to stay within about five hours of home. "He likes to hang out with his family (and friends), bass fish and weight lift.
"He is a total throw-back kid from 30-40 years ago," said Besonen. "He is definitely not a look-at-me-guy."
As a powerful presence, Witt draws major defensive attention – and through his unselfishness, he has developed into an excellent passer. "Our biggest problem is not being able to take him out for a lot of rest. He has a big frame, and he gets gassed. We don't play slow," said Besonen.
This season Witt is averaging 33 points and 14 rebounds a game. In football, where E-TC students played for Ontonagon in a co-op arrangement, 13 of his 28 pass receptions in a run-oriented offense were touchdowns, and he covered about 600 yards. Last year at E-TC, he set an MHSAA 8-player record with 25 TD catches while nabbing 71 passes for 1,698 yards.
Playing college football was considered, but he had 12 years of basketball experience. With only two years of gridiron experience and at the 8-player level, he probably would have been a football red-shirt and may have bulked up to play tackle, although his desire was to be a tight end and catch passes.
Tech gained his scholarship signature because of its splendid academic reputation.
"After college and entering the work force, the degree you get up there (in Houghton) is worth so much," said Witt, who is still pondering his academic direction.
"I am definitely excited to finish my senior year with my college decision already made," he added, noting that he is looking forward to working with Tech assistant coach Josh Buettner, a former GLIAC all-star for the Huskies. "Josh is one of the best big-men coaches in the GLIAC, and Coach Luke is also a very good coach."
Witt, who is a good fit for the blue-collar Tech brand of basketball, will likely play a 3-4 spot with the ability to venture outside to force mismatch situations. "We feel like we are getting a good ball player, a great blue-chipper," said Luke.
After towering over his prep opponents, Witt knows it will be an adjustment to battle players of equal size or bigger when he gets to Tech. "It will take a lot of getting used to playing bigger guys," he said, expecting to get more one-on-one opportunities than in high school.
Besonen firmly believes Witt will adjust the college level. "They could benefit from him being there right now. Add another year and offseason conditioning, and he could be helpful next year," said Besonen.
"He is still building (his game). The adjustment level will be huge for him, especially at his position," Besonen added, noting Witt must improve his footwork. "His feet are coordinated and quick."
Witt may be virtually unknown now. But clearly, he has the potential to become well known.
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) Jake Witt blocks a shot during his team's win earlier this month against Bessemer. (Middle) Witt, left, playing for the Ontonagon/Ewen-Trout Creek football co-op team, wraps up an Eben Junction Superior Central ball carrier this fall. (Photos courtesy of the Ironwood Daily Globe.)
St. Clair County Celebrates 1st Mr. Basketball Winner, PHN's Jamison
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 29, 2023
The Jamison family has spent plenty of time over the years driving long distances as Tyler chased his basketball dreams.
After the Port Huron Northern senior achieved one of the biggest ones, they had to put some more mileage on the family vehicle.
As the newly-crowned Mr. Basketball, Jamison was invited to a special presentation during the Boys Basketball Finals this past Saturday afternoon at the Breslin Center. It was an invitation Tyler and his family didn’t hesitate to accept, and the drive from Port Huron to East Lansing was nothing.
But it did cause a pretty big change to some other travel plans.
Tyler and his family were scheduled to fly to Florida on Friday for spring break. That flight had to be canceled, though, and instead, the family made the drive down later.
“There were some jokes about just leaving me and letting me find my own way down there,” Jamison said.
While they joke, there’s nowhere the Jamisons would have rather been Saturday than at the Breslin. As a true basketball family – Tyler’s dad Brian is also the coach at Northern, and his brother Alex was a standout freshman for the Huskies – they have a great appreciation for the Mr. Basketball Award and its significance.
“I had said a while ago, ‘Hey, if we’re still in the tournament, we’ll be playing Friday,” Brian Jamison said. “I even mentioned that it would be a miracle, but Tyler could win Mr. Basketball. Now we’re eating plane tickets and driving down to Florida. But it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we’re not missing this.”
Jamison was the overwhelming winner of the award, which is named after Hal Schram and given out by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. He received 3,058 points in the vote to become its 43rd winner. Curtis Williams of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (2,004 points), Kaden Brown of Grand Rapids Catholic Central (1,918), Sonny Wilson of Detroit U-D Jesuit (1,883) and Ryan Hurst of North Farmington (1,811) were the other finalists.
“It was just insane,” Tyler Jamison said. “I can’t even really put into words how I felt – it was just a dream come true, a culmination of all the hard work that’s been put in over the years. My mom was in the other room (when his dad called to tell him), and I just hugged her and we were kind of screaming. The dog was getting riled up. It was fun. There were a few tears shed.”
Jamison, who signed with Fairleigh Dickinson in December, finished the season averaging 26.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.3 steals per game. He was named the Macomb Area Conference White division MVP after leading Northern to the league title and a 20-4 overall record.
Even with all that, winning the most prestigious individual basketball award in the state didn’t seem like a reality.
“We purposely try to play a tough schedule, and we purposely got into some showcases because we wanted people to see, not only him play, but us play,” Brian Jamison said. “We had beaten Skyline and Hamtramck, and went up to Croswell-Lexington and won up there, and I thought, ‘OK, now he’s done it against some of the better teams.’ Up to that point, when we played those tougher teams, he’s always showed out well, but it’s different when you’re not winning them. But at that point, I thought he had a chance. Really, I was just hoping he would get on the list. To win it was kind of above and beyond what I had hoped for.”
On the court, Tyler’s impact on the program was pretty obvious and immediate.
He’s the program’s all-time leading scorer – a record he set as a junior – with 1,763 career points. He also holds Northern records for career rebounds (825), points in a game (59), rebounds in a game (28), career field goals made (638) and career free throws made (439). As a junior, he was named MAC Blue MVP.
Northern did not lose a league game in either of the past two seasons.
But Northern is likely to see future success because of Tyler’s non-statistical impact.
Leading a young team, including a group of star freshmen – his brother Alex, Cam Harju and Amir Morelan – was a major part of Tyler’s job this season.
Northern’s home games were must-see events this winter, as the Huskies were one of Division 1’s top teams, and Tyler was providing nightly highlights and must-see performances. Even in his final game, a loss against Macomb Dakota in the District Final, Jamison treated the standing-room crowd with a 46-point performance and a halfcourt shot at the third-quarter buzzer in a valiant effort.
“That’s the big thing, you want the students and the school community to support you, and they did an amazing job,” Tyler Jamison said. “We also had people from the community that wanted to support us and watch us play. Port Huron High had a really good season, too, and I think both schools in the city had that public support. That’s huge. It makes you feel like you’re playing for more than yourself.”
Among those crowds were the next generation of Huskies, some of whom were coached by Tyler in youth basketball. As he’s the first Mr. Basketball winner from St. Clair County, those kids now have a hometown example of someone who has reached the highest heights.
“I think interest gets sparked when the little kids come to the gym, like, ‘Hey, I want to do that,’” Brian Jamison said. “They want to play for Northern or (Port Huron) High. And with him winning Mr. Basketball, I think it gives kids a little bit of ‘Hey, why not me?’ I do think it helps motivate younger people. We’ve had great crowds at our games. I think the area is excited about basketball. It really is a great basketball area.”
With all of that excitement surrounding him, Tyler had one more challenge after the season – keeping the secret that he had won. He found out six days before the award was announced.
“It was terrible – especially when it’s something of that magnitude,” he said. “You want to tell everyone. You want to tell your friends and family. It was hard to be like, ‘No, I don’t know.’”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Tyler Jamison, second from left, with his parents and brother, stands with his newly-received Mr. Basketball Award trophy during the ceremony at the Detroit Free Press. (Middle) Jamison throws down a dunk. (Photos courtesy of the Jamison family.)