There was a time when Kyle Schlaff was one of the guys who scored a lot.
That was during his days at Reeths-Puffer Middle School, then at the junior varsity level, when Schlaff had to put up points if the Rockets were going to win.
By the time he reached varsity as a junior, however, the circumstances had changed. R-P had two All-State caliber sophomores in Jaxson Whitaker and Travis Ambrose who handled the bulk of the scoring.
Schlaff made the starting lineup right away, but his job was to become an all-purpose role player, performing a lot of different tasks that don’t get a lot of attention.
For some kids, that sort of adjustment might have caused a serious blow to the ego. But Schlaff has always been the ultimate team player who mostly cares about winning, not making sure his name is in the headlines.
R-P senior guard Kyle Schlaff
“In middle school and in junior varsity, my team required me to score more points, but now things are different,” said Schlaff, a senior guard. “The team needs someone to go up and get boards, or maybe to guard the other team’s best player, and I will do that. We need to win, and we need guys to do what the team needs.
“I like to score. It’s always been fun, but when you have the best shooter in Reeths-Puffer history on your team (Whitaker), and 6-foot-8 Travis down there scoring, I have a different role. It’s an honor to play with the guys I’m playing with.”
Schlaff has had his share of shining moments, particularly in recent weeks.
On Feb. 21 he scored 13 points, including eight in the first quarter, to help the Rockets to a big 54-45 win over Mona Shores on Senior Night at home.
Last week he hit a big triple and had two free throws in the fourth quarter to help R-P beat Hudsonville 59-49.
Schlaff drives in for a layup in a game earlier this season.
But more than anything, Schlaff is all about doing the important little things, and that attitude has won the respect of R-P head coach Nate Aardema.
“He doesn’t score a ton, but he does everything else,” Aardema said. "He rebounds well, guards well, makes that important extra pass, knocks down open shots when he needs to. He's what I call a glue guy. He wants to know what we need him to do and he does it.
“It’s hard for a lot of people to accept a role that is not as featured. He doesn’t get his name in the papers or in social media a lot, but he shows up and does what he’s asked to do as well as he can. Our society is not built like that so much anymore. It’s all about ‘What’s in it for me?’ But he doesn’t crave that recognition.”
Aardema is amazed at how hard Schlaff works to be as good as he can be at everything he does. Simply put, the kid goes 100 percent all the time.
“Last season our athletic director commented on how Kyle always plays so hard, and when I mentioned that to Kyle, he just said it doesn’t make any sense not to play as hard as you can," the coach said.
Schlaff lets a jumper fly against Muskegon.
“He lifts just about every day. It’s not uncommon for him to go up to the batting cages (he also plays baseball) after basketball practice. Last summer we played down in Ohio, and when we got back, after a four-hour drive, he asked if I could open the weight room for him. That’s how he lives his life. If not so much about your abilities, but what you can get out of those abilities.”
Schlaff said working hard is the best way to guarantee there will be no regrets down the road.
“If we lost a game and I looked back and thought I could have pushed a guy further back in that situation, or I could have boxed out here or jumped higher there, then I would have regrets,” he said. “Trying hard is mental. It’s incredible what people are capable of when they disregard that little devil on their shoulder telling them to slow down.
“I think it originally comes from my upbringing. I have lived my whole life by two rules laid down by my parents – treat people right and always try your best. I always try my best at school, playing guitar or in choir, and it’s the same thing on the court.”
The coming week will be an emotional one for Schlaff, because the Rockets are headed into the state tournament, starting with a Division 1 district quarterfinal game on Monday night at home against Kenowa Hills. A win would send the Rockets to Wednesday’s district semifinals, and a loss would end their season.
Schlaff, left, works hard on defense in a game against Holland.
After so many years of playing basketball, and loving every minute of it, Schaff doesn’t feel ready to be done just yet.
He won’t be playing college basketball, even though he considered enrolling at Hope College and playing there. Instead he applied to the University of Michigan and was recently accepted into U-M’s world class engineering school, where he will study environmental engineering.
“This is it,” said Schlaff, who is a top 10 student in his senior class. “This is my basketball career. It ends when this season ends. It kind of makes me sad. I have spent a lot of time playing with these guys. It’s been a part of my life since I can remember.
" I have tried to play as though every minute on the court has been my late minute and embrace every moment. Now it’s a bit surreal that we’re actually coming into the postseason.
“Our senior group has never made it past first round, and that’s a goal for us in districts this year. We want to make stuff happen and have that experience.”
Schlaff will be wrapping up his basketball career over the next few weeks.
Schlaff and the Rockets have a good feeling going into districts after winning six of their past seven games.
“I am super pumped,” he said. “All of our guys are looking forward to it. We’ve been rolling and it’s always good to peak at the end of the season. We’ve been able to push the ball in transition, we’ve been hitting the boards constantly and we’ve just been tougher.
"That’s a mentality that our coach has preached since Day 1 – be tougher than whoever is guarding you, win every possession. It’s all coming together right now and it’s perfect timing.”
