MUSKEGON TWP. - When the starting lineups were introduced last Tuesday before the Reeths-Puffer-Muskegon boys basketball showdown, one of the players who took the court was a bit of a surprise.
It was senior JT Fansler, a 5-foot-8, 130-pound reserve guard for the Rockets, who doesn’t look very much like a basketball player, and actually had not played the sport for two years before this season.
But R-P fans who are familiar with Fansler probably weren’t surprised at all. They know he’s a gamer who will always give his all, and that’s what coaches look for.
“One of our guys was sick and had to miss a couple of practices, so Coach called my name to start the game,” Fansler said. “I didn’t really have time to think about it, but it was pretty great to know he had that much trust in me to start me in such a big game.
“I had to take a look around, take a deep breath and calm myself down. It was pretty cool.”
R-P's JT Fansler
When asked how Fansler was suddenly in the starting five for such a huge game, R-P head coach Nate Aardema simply said, “We trust that JT will step up when needed. He knows his job and how to do it.”
That was Fansler’s first start of the season. He’s usually a reserve who comes in for a few minutes per game to give the starters a rest.
But he is typically one of the first players off the bench, which is remarkable in and of itself.
Fansler last played basketball three years ago on the Reeths-Puffer freshman team.
After that he turned away from the sport to focus on his first love - soccer - and play for an elite travel team that helped develop his skills.
Photo/Joe Lane
That decision certainly paid off, because Fansler became a three-year starter, team captain and standout defender for the Reeths-Puffer boys soccer team.
He became known for his breathtaking plays and all-around hustle on the field. Fansler was named All-District and All-Conference in soccer during his junior and senior seasons.
But Fansler’s high school soccer career expired in the fall when R-P’s season came to an end.
Suddenly he started to feel graduation creeping up and decided to squeeze in every high school experience he could find.
R-P basketball star Jaxson Whitaker, a friend of Fansler’s, suggested he try out for the team, and he decided to go for it.
Photo/Joe Lane
On the surface the idea may have seemed a bit far-fetched. The R-P boys team was loaded with talent and was set to have a big season, and Fansler had not done much to keep his basketball skills sharp.
“I don’t know if I had picked up a basketball in two years, to be honest,” he said. “I thought it was kind of a long shot.”
Coach Aardema was not very familiar with Fansler at the time, but checked with R-P soccer head coach Kody Harrell and liked what he heard.
“He said he was as great a kid as you could have on your team, and that has been true,” Aardema said,
From soccer star to great role player
Aardema said Fansler has been a great fit as a role player who understands his duties and picks them up quickly. That’s important, because reserves only get so much court time during practice.
“He’s incredibly smart with a high athletic IQ,” Aardema said. "The starters get 70 to 80 percent of the reps in practice, but JT does a great job of doing something just once or twice and knowing it, as well as knowing other people’s jobs.
“He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. Sometimes with your sixth or seventh man, you just need someone to keep things where they are at and not make mistakes. JT runs our sets and our defensive stuff as well as anybody.”
Fansler is willing to do just about anything to help the team on the court.
For example, in a recent game against Zeeland West, Fansler ended up guarding a much taller kid who was getting the best of him.
Photo/Joe Lane
During a time out, Fansler suggested that he should try to draw a charging foul against the big player, even though it probably meant taking a hit that might send him sprawling across the floor.
“(The Zeeland West kid) banged into him once, twice, then a third time and finally got called for a charge,” Aardema said. “JT was gritty enough to put his body on the line and smart enough to utilize it.”
Fansler doesn’t have many stats to show for his varsity basketball experience. As of this writing, he had only taken seven shots from the floor and was averaging half a point per game.
But R-P has plenty of guys who can score, starting with Whitaker and fellow star Travis Ambrose. Fansler’s biggest contribution is his spark and positive attitude, according to Aardema.
“JT doesn’t care about anything but playing hard and the team having success,” the coach said. “He goes 100 percent in everything he does. He sets an example and it’s huge for us. It’s contagious.”
Photo/Joe Lane
Fansler has made a great transition from being a soccer star who played all the time to a basketball reserve who plays a few minutes per game.
That may have been hard on the ego for some other athletes, but Fansler has a unique way of looking at it.
“It’s kind of cool to be able to go in for just a few minutes and just go all out,” he said. “In soccer I had to conserve my energy a little bit.
“Even when I’m not playing, I try to do everything I can to pump everyone up. I never realized how important that role was. Every time (R-P starter Antrel Jones) comes off the court, I will high-five him and tell him ‘You got this.’ After a game recently, he told me ‘Thanks for supporting me,’ That was pretty cool.”
More than anything, Fansler is having a great time just being part of a great basketball team. The Rockets are currently 15-1 and have a pretty amazing 12-game winning streak.
Photo/Joe Lane
He had a real blast during last week’s stunning 63-45 upset of previously unbeaten Muskegon, and it wasn’t just because he started.
“I don’t know how many experiences I’ve had in sports that was better than that,” he said. “I was pretty confident we were going to get them. We did the preparation and believed we could win. I was not expecting to win by that many points, though. That’s pretty rare against Muskegon.
“We have believed in ourselves since the beginning of the year, and getting big wins against really good teams has boosted that confidence a little bit more.”
