Jaxson Whitaker has been a really good varsity basketball player since his freshman year.
But something has changed for the Reeths-Puffer junior this season.
That really good player has suddenly become a dominant one, as the end of Tuesday night's Reeths-Puffer-Zeeland East game clearly illustrated.
R-P led 40-39 with just under two minutes remaining, then Whitaker took over, scoring six straight points with two layups - one coming after he stole the ball - and then two free throws that came after he snagged a key rebound and drew a foul.
His quick batch of points put the Rockets in control and they won 50-42.
When asked about his late point explosion, Whitaker admitted that he wants to be the guy who comes through in tight situations.
R-P junior basketball standout Jaxson Whitaker
“I feel like I have the mindset of wanting to finish the game and outwork everyone,” he said.
Reeths-Puffer coach Nate Aardema summed it up this way - “We get the ball in Jaxson’s hands and we win.”
Whitaker finished with a team-high 21 points against Zeeland East, but that was far from his best offensive output in recent weeks.
He pumped in 30 points against Wyoming, 27 against Grand Rapids Union and 26 against Jenison.
Last season he averaged a very nice 15.9 points per game. This season he’s averaging 21.2 points per game, and that kind of scoring could bring a lot of postseason honors, as well as the attention of some big college basketball programs.
So how did Whitaker manage to find an extra gear and crank up his offense so much? It’s a simple matter of hard work and determination.
Whitaker has scored between 25-30 points in several recent games.
He’s always been known for his outside shooting but wanted to become more effective at driving the lane to get layups and draw fouls. So he spent the past offseason in the weight room, adding some necessary bulk to his frame.
“I used to just stay around the three-point line and shoot,” Whitaker said. “I wanted to show that I was not just a shooter. I have tried to evolve my game quite a bit.”
Coach Aardema admires the changes that Whitaker has made.
“He added about 15 pounds of muscle while getting quicker and more explosive,” the coach said. “That’s a testament to the work he’s done in the weight room. Now he’s getting to the rim more and finishing in the paint more.
“This is my 14th year as a head coach, I said last year that Jaxson is the best shooter I have ever coached, and now he’s an even better overall player. It’s amazing watching him be able to manufacture offense and find ways to get open and get shots off and score.”
Whitaker’s determination to improve comes from his intensely competitive nature.
Whitaker follows through after nailing a three-pointer against Muskegon.
“I don’t like losing a lot,” he said. “I like to try to get good at everything.”
Aardema has seen that quality in Whitaker, on and off the basketball court.
“We had a ping pong tournament at a team dinner and he won that,” the coach said. “We had a corn hole tournament at my house last summer and he and his partner won that. He and (teammate Travis Ambrose) played doubles in varsity tennis in the fall, with no previous experience in the sport, and they did well.
“He stands out in basketball because of his work ethic. He and Travis both get to school early every single day and shoot around before they work out, then if they get their lifting done early they will shoot some more. To be extraordinary you have to do more than the ordinary.”
Necessity has also played a role in Whitaker’s sudden offensive improvement.
For the past two seasons he’s been part of a special scoring combo with Ambrose, the Rockets’ 6-foot-8 junior center. Whitaker handled the perimeter shooting while Ambrose dominated the paint. Their contributions were always pretty equal, with Whitaker averaging 15.9 points per game last season and Ambrose averaging 15.2.
Whitaker, left, and Travis Ambrose last season.
Shortly before this season, however, Ambrose was sidelined by a hernia that required surgery, causing him to miss several games and work his way back to full strength once he returned.
That left Whitaker more or less on his own as the Rockets’ main offensive threat.
“It definitely made me feel a little more pressure, I guess,” Whitaker said. “I felt like I had to score quite a bit and get my teammates open as much as possible.”
Aardema thinks the temporary loss of Ambrose was probably good for Whitaker, and some other Rockets, as well.
“When you look back on it, not having Travis for a while was an opportunity for guys to gain more confidence,” the coach said. “Jaxson gained more confidence being out there without the security of having Travis. It was the same for a lot of our guys.”
Ambrose is back at 100 percent now and things are looking up for the Rockets.
Whitaker tries to dribble past two defenders in a recent game.
After starting the season with a 3-4 record, R-P has won two conference games in a row heading into Friday night's home matchup against Zeeland West. Whitaker thinks the team has turned the corner and its best days are ahead.
“I think there were some games we lost that we should have won, and it was because we didn’t bring our full energy,” he said. “I think a lot of guys were a little nervous, they didn’t have the confidence they needed, and when you don’t have that the chance of having full energy is not as high.
“Now we’re starting to all buy in as a team, we are winning games at the end, and the guys are starting to understand what they are capable of doing.”
