The 29/1
Official Podcast of the West Ottawa High School Athletic Program. 29 Sports, One Team. The show that brings you into the lives of student athletes, coaches and other faces in the Panther Sports Community. Bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join Rodney Vellinga and Athletic Director Bill Kennedy as they dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better.
The 29/1
Figuring It Out and Doing It Together with Clayton Dykhouse, WO Boys Basketball
Going from the court to the sideline is a massive change for any athlete. Listen to the voice of Clayton Dykhouse, the new Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at West Ottawa High School, as he shares his inspiring journey from the courts of Hope College to the classrooms and gymnasiums of West Ottawa. Clayton brings a dynamic blend of passion and discipline to his roles as both a coach and physical wellness instructor, reflecting on his final carefree summer before diving into these challenging yet rewarding responsibilities. His energy and commitment leap off the page as he discusses this next stage of life and fully embracing the West Ottawa community.
Clayton opens up about the multifaceted experience of teaching physical wellness and coaching at the high school level, where mentorship and teamwork thrive. He discusses the joys and hurdles of transitioning from player to coach, emphasizing the importance of imparting both skills and values to young athletes. Through stories of his own development, Clayton underscores how character growth and interpersonal relationships are as crucial as technical prowess in shaping well-rounded athletes. His reflections on mentorship and fostering a collaborative atmosphere reveal a compassionate and thoughtful approach to education and coaching.
Travel back with us to the days of the Fab Five and explore how Jalen Rose influenced Clayton's identity and team first mentality. His personal stories of relationships forged at Hope College highlight the significance of truly investing in people around you. As Clayton steps into his role at West Ottawa, he focuses on building a supportive culture where belief and trust among players are paramount. The episode is a heartfelt appreciation of Clayton's growth as a person and player, as we look forward to witnessing the positive impact he makes on and off the court.
This episode was recorded on November 16, 2024.
Podcasts now dropping at 5pm every Sunday evening for that late weekend chill, or listen Monday AM during that morning commute or workout. Please like, follow, subscribe, or leave a review. Even share with someone who might like to listen. Thanks for taking the time to get to know each other a little bit better. The people who make West Ottawa Athletics what it is. Go WO!
Special thanks to Laura Veldhof Photography.
I can't wait to see you work today. Three, that was the number that I wore. I can't wait to see. I'm excited to watch you play and that totally elevated me as a basketball player. The belief that other people had in me as a young player was something that I don't think I'm ever going to forget, and it's something that I implore our guys to show to each other, and it's something that I tried to show to every one of the freshmen that stepped on campus when I got to Hope.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, this is Rodney Valinga with the West Ottawa high school athletic program and you're listening to the 29 one podcast 29 sports, one team, the show that brings you into the lives of student athletes, coaches and other faces in the Panther sports community, bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join myself and Athletic Director Bill Kennedy as we dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better. Ever sit down with someone whose energy and passion for the thing they love is so authentic and genuine that you can't help but buy in.
Speaker 3:Today we sit down with one of the newest coaches here at West Ottawa JV head basketball coach, Clayton Dykhaus. A standout at Hope College, Clayton has joined the teaching and coaching staff here at West Ottawa and is bringing energy and enthusiasm in everything he does.
Speaker 2:Clayton joins the staff with head coach Jared Riddell and assistant Brian Palmer as they work together to build a competitive program in the ever-difficult OK Red.
Speaker 3:Clayton Dykhouse up next on the 29.1 podcast.
Speaker 2:Let's get it hey everybody, welcome back to the 29.1 podcast. It is a great day to be in West Michigan. It's about that time. Gray and brown are now your dominant outside colors. It's dark outside when you get up and it's dark outside when you get home and there's only one thing left to do, which is throw on those sneakers and get to the gym. Today we sit down with a young man who has been a steady presence in basketball over the last count them nine years in the Holland Zealand area. You've seen him in the yellow and Brown as an opponent. You've seen him in the orange and brown as an opponent. You've seen him in the orange and blue as a Division III college standout and soon to be in the black and white as a JV high school boys basketball head coach here at West Ottawa. He'll be on the sideline in a little over a week as the Panthers open up their season on Tuesday, november 26, at home here against Godwin Heights. And I got to say we are really excited to ask who is it? Clayton.
Speaker 1:Dykhaus.
Speaker 2:Clayton Dykhaus, or otherwise known as Mr Dykhaus.
Speaker 1:Mr Dykhaus.
Speaker 2:And otherwise known as Coach Dykhaus or just Coach. Are you getting used to those titles yet?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're definitely a little different coming off of being a player, but no, being at Harbor Lights and being in the middle school there, that was definitely the first thing that I noticed and had to get used to, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's Mr Now or it's Coach. You probably don't get Clayton very much anymore. Not at all. No, not at all. It's my pleasure to actually welcome you to this club of former athletes. So you can still run 10Ks, you can enter cornhole tournaments, you can play pickleball with friends and probably find that men's basketball league. Are you still hooping a little bit here and there?
Speaker 1:Here and there? Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:Do you go back to Hope and play at all, or where are you playing?
Speaker 1:Me and a couple of my former teammates will go play at intramurals, which are a ton of fun, and then we're playing in some men's leagues. I saw this upcoming winter too.
Speaker 2:All right, so not being away. Has it hit you that that you are now the ex college athlete?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, absolutely Seeing the the incoming freshmen that I maybe watched play last year in high school, or even like watching watching the the seniors that are that are at hope right now, and like those guys were freshmen when I came in because of COVID and everything that happened, so really like wow, yeah, I'm up there.
Speaker 2:I'm up there 23. 23.
Speaker 3:23. Old to be 23 again. Well, clayton, we're so lucky to have you here at West Ottawa, as you were kind of going through your student teaching last year, obviously with Coach Metz, who was a close friend of mine, runs our tennis program, does a great job with that. He couldn't say enough good things about you. And then the fact that we just had that kind of perfect opportunity to add a physical wellness instructor down at the middle school. Everything kind of timed up, perfect. What is it like to kind of ingrain yourself in the West Ottawa community now, really being in year two here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, this is the place that, after student teaching here, for sure that I wanted to be being around the West Michigan area. When I was in high school, the athletics here at West Ottawa were second to none in the area. Basketball team was amazing, a lot of really solid football players, and then we could list the sports and list the athletes volleyball as well. So it's really cool to be able to give back to a school that I have a lot of respect for and competing against, and now being able to serve them and work with the students here yeah, I couldn't be more grateful.
Speaker 3:It's kind of been a whirlwind. Right, you graduate from college, boom full-time job. I'm jumping into it. Have you had time to breathe?
Speaker 1:This summer a little bit. So I've been working as a camp counselor over the previous summers and this summer just stepping away and then making sure that I was being able to kind of enjoy we joked around me, my parents like this is the last kid's summer that you're ever going to have. So being out with my friends, going to the beach, making sure that we were just balancing prepping for the upcoming school year and then enjoying this amazing area.
Speaker 2:It is great to have you here. I'm so pumped that West Ottawa did that $50,000 for first-year teachers. I'm sure you are too. You graduated. I graduated Hope this past May and played your last college game in March for Hope. How is your life different today from just one year ago?
Speaker 1:One year ago today I would have been probably the first one in the training room because I was the old guy Right away getting prepped for a shoot-around. That's not going to happen for a couple hours. Just different. Just being so committed and focused on, like a team success and team goals To have that kind of flip and be the role model or the one that's instigating other guys thinking about that and encouraging my students and then my athletes to really just like buy it. I've been a part of some great teams and I want that same experience for every one of my players and every one of my students how long has it been since you didn't have to get ready for a November opener as a player?
Speaker 1:they make the jokes. Today, my teammates would make the joke that our former teammates uh, half a decade. So five years ago.
Speaker 2:Five years ago today, you are getting ready for another home opener, of course, but let's go back to kind of what you're doing for a little bit here, Cause you are teaching, and you're teaching at Harbor lights middle school. You're in physical wellness. What's that been like teaching kids already it's been awesome.
Speaker 1:I have a really good mentor teacher she's amazing. Amy Bishop Funk she does a wonderful job, she's so supportive, she's so encouraging. And then also, at Mac Bay, the other two PW instructors, jeff Van Fossen and then Drew Andry. They've opened their arms to me in terms of the support, in terms of everything from lesson planning to instruction. And also Carrie Lahaki, who worked in the middle school for a long time. She took over my last year at Hope in the PW department. So being able to get A lot of tie-ins here.
Speaker 1:Yes, being able to have so many connections of people who have done it or who are doing what I want to be really great at. It's awesome. I feel super supported. My principals administration are amazing. All the coworkers there have been nothing but accepting and you know, every day I get to go to work and it's a joy Like I genuinely wake up every day and I love it.
Speaker 3:I love that. You said I get to go to work. It's not, I have to go to work. That's when you know that you've found your niche and you've found something that you can do for a long period of time. Right, I have the opportunity to go to work today.
Speaker 2:I don't have to go there, great place to be, if you can find it. Tell me about the kids. What different grades are you teaching, what classes? And then what specific things have you been teaching so far? In the fall, Absolutely so.
Speaker 1:I have. I've had every middle school. I've had every middle school grade. So six, seven, eight. I've had health courses. So I've had two health classes that I've been in charge of teaching, and then PWI, which would be physical wellness indoor, and then PWO, which is physical wellness outdoor. Along with this second quarter so the middle school splits it up into quarters we introduced boys strength and conditioning.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:That's been awesome. So I've got a wide range of students, right from athletes to non-athletes to everything in between, and it's been really cool to see the growth in my different classes. I don't think I have a single class or a single student. Honestly. That goes about each day the same and that makes every hour super special. That makes every day different and unique. But yeah, I love it and some of the units that we've covered or we're covering we're currently in our swimming unit for all my PW classes, my health class is in its nutrition unit and then the boys' strength and conditioning. They're on their third I want to say the third round of like the program that we're in that some of the coaches up here at the high school helped put together Frank, mr McKenzie, I think Newton was involved in that too. So it's been really really cool to watch how each different kid student class approaches each different topic that we're learning about.
Speaker 3:Getting Panther strength down at the middle school level is something that I know has been a real passion project for Frank Lurchin. I think I saw you in some of those photos as you guys were kind of setting up that weight room at Harbor Lights and really giving those kids a space to go and train and start to develop. What was that process like? I know that was a lot of heavy lifting, a lot of dusty days. It's not always the nicest area up there, but you guys have really put lipstick on the pig up there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, it was so cool. The amount of guys that came back from the high school a lot of freshmen, a lot of sophomores to come back and help set that up, get all the equipment set where it needs to go. Joe DeCavers was awesome in terms of kind of orchestrating and pinpointing that whole operation and the guys and girls in Ms Bishop's class. They love it. They've totally just taken to it with a really cool energy and the way that they encourage each other and support each other. While I'm up there, but then also while I'm teaching another class, I can hear her students up there super loud, super supportive, getting after it. It's a cool thing to hear kids encourage each other without maybe a teacher forcing that on them.
Speaker 3:That's good stuff.
Speaker 2:You're taking that same energy, that same connectivity with kids and you're now taking it to basketball because you are going to be the junior varsity head coach of boys basketball coming up, you've spent much of the past week in tryouts with boys university and I know you practice together a lot with the varsity team. I think you guys are courts are really right beside each other. How has it been for you being on the other side in this last 10 days or so as a coach rather than a player?
Speaker 1:at the high school level. This would be kind of maybe a little bit new. So I was fortunate enough to coach some AAU basketball. They were what grade would they be in now? They would be sophomores right now. I was also fortunate enough to coach some of my teammates at Hope.
Speaker 2:So this is how you coach your teammates at Hope? Yeah, I can explain that one.
Speaker 1:So I'll name them right now. Brett Boltzma, parker Hovey and now he is actually at Calvin Parker Schwartz were all on the first AAU team that I coached when I was a junior at Hope.
Speaker 2:You're kidding I helped coach.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I helped coach them, so then I got to play with both two of them and then potentially maybe would have played against one of them if he'd gone to Calvin earlier.
Speaker 2:Did they call you coach on the court?
Speaker 1:No, I got a lot of grandpa and unk jokes.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:None of the others.
Speaker 2:I don't see any gray yet, so we're coming um, but no, just it's.
Speaker 1:It's so cool to be on that other side and take all the information that I've received, all the coaching that I've received from some amazing coaches, and be able to pour it into these dudes that like they're, they're so, they're right on the the precipice of figuring it all out right. We've, we've kind of grown and I've seen the culture grow even this in this last couple of weeks, right, with guys coming back from football and just welcoming them in and really recognizing that, like, in order to do this, we've got to do it together and we've got to do it the right way, and that's going to take work, and they recognize that and they're, they're excited these, uh, these kids are not much younger than you, do you still show them things, if you know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:Every once in a while Every once in a while, I think. Sometimes I'll remind them why I'm their coach jokingly.
Speaker 1:No, I'll hop in and play with them sometimes, but again, I had younger coaches that did that and I loved it. As a player, I thought it was really cool to see my coach demonstrate what he was talking about, right? So it's not just scoring, it's not just playing, but like when I do play with them, like I'll talk and I'll guard really hard defensively, like I was playing in a game, like it was it was my season. So they see that, hey, like, in order to do things the right way, doesn't matter if you've played college basketball, doesn't matter if you're a coach. This is how the game's supposed to be played. And recognizing that some kids, in order to maybe gain that respect, they need to see you do it. And while I'm still young, enough to do it.
Speaker 1:I'm happily going to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, seeing that up close as a player so you can teach this and teach that. But also you and I are rubbing shoulders and you're covering me right and you got your little elbow on the side of my ribs, just a little bit a little push off here and there, a little fake, a little head fake. They're left in the past. Whatever it is, that is as much teaching as anything else. Right, those little nuances of basketball.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one of the things I've noticed I've, you know, come in and out of the gym a couple of times throughout the course of the week just to kind of check in on things, see how the boys are doing. One of the things I've noticed is energy level in the gym. At practice, with the JV guys and the varsity guys next to each other, the energy is off the roof. Energy off the roof, probably isn't it? Off the charts? Off the charts, yeah.
Speaker 2:Through the roof, through the roof. That took way too long.
Speaker 3:The energy is through the roof. What are you trying to do with practice and trying to, I guess, really create that energy? What are you kind of going about and what are you doing in that situation?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would. I would say from. From my standpoint, I think the best thing I can do is take the the fact that I was just in their shoes and really really try to like apply that to them. Like I was a few months ago, like I was a player, I did have to bring energy. I didn't have to talk all the time. I was essentially making sure that my guys would do their job for a coach and so now just pouring that into them.
Speaker 1:You know, they've got two really solid coaches, especially when we all combine. So the end of our practice is when we combine. We've got Coach Riddell and Coach Palmer there with those guys and not that I don't provide X's and O's, and I just think in certain situations there I'm trying to help them recognize, like, what it's going to take to play at that level, like you're going to get coached hard, and they both do. Those other two coaches do a really good job of pushing that. So then my job is essentially maybe keeping that energy up and making sure that other dudes are like hey, this is, this is what it's like, right it's, it's loud, it's quick, it's fast, it's so great for my JV guys too, cause then they get to see like hey, there is another step. Like you, you took that step from freshman to JV and it got faster. Maybe it's a little bit more physical.
Speaker 1:To be a good, solid varsity basketball team, that's going to take every day. We're competing Every day. It's loud, right. I talk a lot about like you can be quiet off the court. You don't have to be an extrovert as soon as we are between those lines, like hey, you've got to have your teammates back defensively, offensively, you've got to know what we're doing or what we want to see. And, yeah, trying to be you know, high fives, yelling guy scores I shouldn't be, but I'm probably one of the loudest guys in the gym when somebody does something well and just making sure that they feel like hey, like I recognize the work you're putting in and it's super cool. I love the way we end practices where I get to essentially just be like their hype man in terms of hey, we put all this work in.
Speaker 1:Now we get to go show it.
Speaker 3:And you've got. We've got a number of guys that are going to kind of float back and forth between the JV and the varsity. You talked a little bit about the speed of the game. Talk to us, maybe, a little bit about what it's going to be like for those guys that are getting some run on varsity games and then all of a sudden they're going to be stepping into the JV games. It's going to elevate their game for your team.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think 1 through 13 on the varsity really really solid, really really important in getting them to believe that message is going to be huge, because that's what it takes to win and that's what it takes to compete.
Speaker 1:The JV guys they recognize the unique situation that we're in with our team with some of the underclassmen. It's been communicated with them. Their attitude's been awesome. So just recognizing that it might feel a little bit different there might be practices where we don't have four of our teammates, or we have two and we don't have certain guys with us and implementing them into gameplay and making sure that everyone who's playing is getting the reps and the work that they, that they need. Certain guys need to be put in situations where there's a lot expected of them. Other guys need to figure out how to play with other guys and so just making sure as a coach, I think the one thing that I really appreciated from my really good coaches was the honesty and the direct information that I was receiving as a player, and that's exactly what I'm going to try to apply to my guys as the season goes on.
Speaker 2:You were a three-year varsity player at Zealand East, I believe right, and graduated in 2019. But at one point you were the little kid trying out for your first team as a freshman. What do you remember about being that kid?
Speaker 1:I remember being super excited and really nervous at the same time. I remember showing up early and I was shooting and I was working out and tryouts started and I was like, oh my goodness, I'm tiny.
Speaker 3:These guys are so fast, they're so quick.
Speaker 1:I don't know how I'm even going to compete and I remember thinking the upperclassmen really just being positive and encouraging me. That was one of the biggest things that I recognized as a freshman. I had seniors who weren't even in my tryout walk by and it wasn't something big, it wasn't a whole speech, but it was like can't wait to see you work today. Three, that was the number that I wore. I can't wait to see, I'm excited to watch you play. And that totally elevated me as a basketball player. Like the belief that other people had in me as a young player was something that I don't think I'm ever going to forget and it's something that I implore our guys to show to each other and it's something that I tried to show to every one of the freshmen that stepped on campus when I got to Hope.
Speaker 2:You developed into a player who could get to the rim a lot. So I watched a lot of your highlights went to those those huddle senior highlights, and you could get to the rim a lot. You also have that incredible high arcing shot that you like to shoot from the three. And of course, the hold the exaggerated hold on the Clayton Dykhouse three was something I noticed too. What are a couple of things in high school that came to you easy and what are some other things you needed to work at, either on or off the court? But you know, as that young freshman becoming that senior maybe talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 1:Um, my ability to handle the basketball. I would. I would love to be able to give kids drills and I think I can to get better at that. That was so natural. I was really, really fortunate to be able to just. The ball always felt comfortable in my hands and I never felt like I needed to look at the basketball, which is what made I think me, in high school and at Hope, a good passer. It always felt really comfortable.
Speaker 2:Notice that too. Lots of good passing.
Speaker 1:What I needed to work on. I couldn't have hit. I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a jump shot growing up.
Speaker 2:Like mid-range or deep threes Mid-range I couldn't shoot the ball.
Speaker 1:I had. Really I shot it from my chest and the reason I hope you're listening, dad, because you're going to get your credit right here the reason that I do hold it, or did hold it, was because my dad drilled into me, like getting the ball away from my chest and we would shoot form shots.
Speaker 2:So that's why it's there.
Speaker 1:And I didn't like it. I didn't like it, but thank you. Thank you for listening, dad. No, the ability to find guys came easy on the basketball court. The ability to handle the basketball came easy. I couldn't shoot the ball and I couldn't lead. I had no idea how to lead in high school, which is why, if you look at the highlights, I think I look like a pretty good basketball player. If you look at our team records with the athletes that we had, I did see that too.
Speaker 1:They were not where they needed to be. I had no idea how to manage a game. I had no idea how to get guys to want to compete that didn't love basketball because I loved it. So for me there was no. Why aren't you trying? Or why are you not putting effort forth, like we're playing this is game time when I didn't recognize that, hey, this might be another guy's third sport or second sport.
Speaker 1:And so when I got to Hope, that was a huge, huge learning curve for me. And then you got to lead older guys. So I think I was really fortunate Coach George came in and he helped a lot with it. But other than that, you know, I saw what good senior leadership looked like at Hope, like I saw Preston Granger and Matt Zanstra and Ryan Gam and Jay Coner my freshman year do an unbelievable job of investing and doing things the right way. So by the time I became a senior, it was a no-brainer what I was going to do and how I was going to help these younger guys.
Speaker 1:But then also I had some incredible leaders with me Brady Swinehart, evan Thomas, harris Hawkins, tj McKenzie. They all did a really good job of collectively coming together and being like, hey, this is how we're going to invest. And it's stuff off the court too right. The way we talk to each other, the way that you interact with your professors or your teachers, the way that you talk to your classmates, the way that you go about acting or carrying yourself with the West Ottawa logo or the Hope logo or whatever you have on your chest, like all that matters, and I don't think I had that figured out in high school at all. I got to Hope and really, really quickly I was like, oh yeah, like in order to be a winner or in order to compete and do things the right way, it's so much more than just putting a ball through a basket and that's something that I definitely want, like our guys, to recognize and see and learn and pick up way before I did.
Speaker 2:Preach it, clayton. I love hearing that. I have one other question, basketball related. I've noticed you're a really good passer. Do you feel like you have a really good peripheral vision? Is that?
Speaker 1:part of it. I would say that's part of it.
Speaker 2:I also would say I just see so many kids that don't see something Like they're going in this direction and the play is just off, to their right, the wide open, and they just don't see it.
Speaker 1:I would say a lot of kids when they start watching basketball and this is going to be weird. A lot of kids when they start watching basketball, they watch highlight tapes right. Naturally, we didn't have a TV growing up To my family we didn't have a TV. Growing up at all, grandparents had a TV, but their TV didn't have cable, so they didn't have live games.
Speaker 1:So, in order to watch live games, we'd have to go out to eat, and you only do that so much as a family. We would go over to our grandparents' house a lot, though, and they had the Fab Five games on VCR. My grandpa was a huge Michigan fan.
Speaker 3:Our whole family.
Speaker 1:So the first guard that I watched was Jalen Rose, and I watched how Jalen Rose made everybody better. He's my favorite player. I have a picture my dad probably has it somewhere in his classroom right now that I wrote all the Fab Five names down and I'm the number five.
Speaker 3:I wrote my name Because Jalen Rose is, I think, one of the first basketball camps I went to when I was little.
Speaker 1:I said Jalen Rose is my favorite basketball player and the person running the camp was like how do you even know who that is? I was like, oh, I just watched him play and you didn't learn it from 2K either?
Speaker 2:No, not at all. Well, look what we got right here. Not at all.
Speaker 1:No, so I yeah, he was the first point guard that I watched. I watched a pass first Point guard I also. If you've watched me play, I've also. I think that's where the when my teammates do something well, if you pay attention which some people don't I love to celebrate their success, like if you were to watch a game at Hope and you were to just watch me during the game and it was a game maybe where Gabe Killen had 25 or Marcus had 17 or TJ had 20 or whatever the case may be. I would try to implore that I recognize what they were doing. So if that was yelling, if that was a high five, if that was a chest bump, if that was talking to them as they're walking to the huddle and hyping them up, I saw Jalen Rose do that to all his guys and that was really impactful, I think at a young age, and I was like, yeah, that's how you win, and I saw them win.
Speaker 3:I love that I'm sitting here with a dude that's 23, and we're talking about the Fab Five.
Speaker 2:Let's go, because the Fab Five.
Speaker 3:They were freshmen at Michigan, my freshman year of high school.
Speaker 2:No kidding.
Speaker 3:So I had some long baggy.
Speaker 2:Michigan shorts. I wore black socks on the basketball court Absolutely Black socks, black shoes.
Speaker 3:I was a big Chris Webber guy but loved the Fab Five so good.
Speaker 2:They were the. I don't know, they were just this brand new thing that came on the scene and they did change basketball.
Speaker 3:We went from short shorts to like to you could actually cover your leg. Now we've gone in reverse. It did go a little too far If you go back to some of those 90s where it's mid-calf on some of these guys and it doesn't help a short guy.
Speaker 2:I'm only 5'10", you're 5'11" Long. Shorts on guys like that, they don't work. They don't work at all. You have something on your schedule on December 10th. Do you know what that is? Have you circled that date? Because I know what it is.
Speaker 1:I think I know what it is. I don't think I've circled it, though You're going to say it and I'm going to be fun.
Speaker 2:At Zealand East, you get recruited to play at Hope College. What do you remember about wanting to play at the next level and then getting that opportunity?
Speaker 1:I remember that being the goal. You know a lot of kids my friends included right they wrote down like when you're little I want to be in the. Nba. I want to do all of this. I think in sixth, seventh grade it was like I want to be a college basketball player. I was also under the impression you could do that forever.
Speaker 2:I watched guys like Aaron Kraft be at.
Speaker 1:Ohio State for forever and I was like, oh, this is going to be your job. Found that out really quickly Jeff Carlson, who's currently the head coach at Zion East. He reached out along with Greg Mitchell and a couple of the other members of their staff, and I went on a visit and, in all honesty, I totally checked out. I was like this is way too close to home. I don't want to do this.
Speaker 2:We've heard this one before.
Speaker 1:I cannot believe. I'm right down the road. All my friends, like my friends' houses, are right here. Like I, this isn't going to college, I'm just going to another high school. And so I that first visit kind of cast to the side looked other places. I visited Alma. I was supposed to visit Trine. A couple months down the line there were A couple months down the line there were other schools that I had talked to. None of them really felt right. You know, I felt like I was a really good college basketball player, like I could be a really good college basketball player.
Speaker 1:I was super small, I didn't shoot it well, I had all these glaring red flags in my game or holes in my game, and went on another visit and this time I went with the players rather than with an admissions rep and I was just totally immersed in the Hope culture. For a day. I was at their house. I went to practice, they went to class, I went and sat outside their class. We went to lunch together. I watched them work out, I saw what it looked like and the entire time which this is amazing the entire time they kept coming back to me and making sure I was okay while they were going through their day. I noticed that immediately. So Preston and Matt both were hey, man, are you good? Do you need this? Do you want to go shoot? You can go shoot right over there. And they did not need to do that at all. I was essentially just tagging along, I was the annoying little kid for the day and they were amazing.
Speaker 1:Went home. I was talking to my parents about it. I was like, hey, if you can make this work, if we can make this work, I would love, love, love to go play at Hope. We figured it out. I called. I remember this. I was in the gym at East. We figured it out. I called. I called. I remember this. I was in the gym at East. We played the next day. We had a game the next day, so it was right before practice. And I called Coach Mitch and I was like, hey, I'm coming to Hope. And he was on the bus with the guys because they were headed to a game and the whole bus just like went crazy. I don't think I'm ever going to forget it. Like I could hear them on the speakerphone.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to play with you, Clay. And yeah, that was it. As soon as I got to campus, I was like, yes, this is the place I want to be.
Speaker 2:I'm going to invest here and yeah, you know of all the of all the bright lights that could have brought you to Hope College.
Speaker 3:it was the relationships it was the relationships, absolutely, absolutely, no question about it. So, speaking of relationships good segue I've got a long time relationship with a, with a guy that's a coach over at hope college, ken george awesome dude had the opportunity this morning to talk to them, as they're in a hotel in ohio. I said we're gonna sit down with Clayton today and you know, give me a couple of tidbits. What do you, what do you remember about the kid? And he? First thing he said was he was a skinny kid who showed up, but he trusted the process and then he became the face of Hope College basketball. What's that mean to you?
Speaker 1:Considering that I was never the best or most talented player on my team, that means a lot. I played with some unbelievable basketball players. Evan Thomas, first off, comes to mind. He doesn't get hurt probably a first-team All-American. Tanner Wigger, who's a West Ottawa graduate, went from average role player Talking about skinny.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was going to say you're talking about skinny kid.
Speaker 1:No, he went from average role player to we needed to run the ball through him every possession. He legitimately needed to touch every possession. You got Marcus Warman there right now who, lightning quick, could guard anybody you wanted, and I could list the guys that, in terms of pure basketball skill, probably are ahead or have surpassed where I was at and what I did. But to hear your head coach say that, after you've tried to do things the right way for your entire career, it's never once been about me. I've never gone into a game or a season thinking about my individual success and, yeah, to see that recognized, that means a lot. That, that that, yeah, more than more than you guys know.
Speaker 3:So you brought up a name there, marcus Warman. That also came up in my conversation with coach and he talked a little bit about the, the mentorship. Really you kind of took Marcus under your wing and kind of helped him grow and develop into the player that he is now and he's kind of in those shoes now, right as the leader of the team. They also talked a lot about how, when recruits would come in and maybe this goes back to the experience you had with the basketball guys when you showed up there as a recruit that you wanted to be the point person, you wanted to be the guy to have those high school kids sit down with you at lunch. Was it really just because of that experience that you had with those guys?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I would say the point about Marcus like I saw everything that our team needed and he was a freshman the first day he stepped on campus. And sometimes you know it gets awkward right when you bring in somebody who essentially is there to when you're gone or even while you're there, potentially take your job. And I never looked at it like that, like I recognized how talented he was and how much he could help our team when he's at his best. And to see where he's at now, even a lot of the time last year, before you know, maybe his foot injury like really, really unbelievable basketball player. When he gets back healthy this year, like the work he put in this summer, it's going to show and it's going to be amazing. And his leadership too, like there's there've been so many positive steps and he's he's definitely going to be one of the better guards to ever wear the orange and blue.
Speaker 1:The freshmen, so the incoming recruits, I would say, yeah, you're already uncomfortable. I tried to make their visit as normal and comfortable so they could see what campus would be like with their authentic selves. I loved it. It was so fun to me to watch kids come in, go on a visit and then I'd have to look at the roster. But I think that all the returners.
Speaker 3:At one point I had lunch with as incoming recruits.
Speaker 1:I think right now all the returners yes.
Speaker 3:Coach Mitchell so they happened to be in the hotel room together. When I was on the phone with them, they put me on speaker and they were kind of talking amongst each other. They're like I think every guy on our roster right now had lunch with. Clayton.
Speaker 2:That's because you like Chick-fil-A, I'm sure, that's what it was.
Speaker 1:Hey, well, they're paying too. Come on now.
Speaker 3:So when I was in college and we would host recruits, I lived with a number of other football guys and recruits would get sent to us. When we would get those commitments from guys that we hosted, we would go crazy Like we sold this kid.
Speaker 2:Oh, like big win. Like we would be going crazy in. Like big win.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, like we would be going crazy in the locker room because we felt like we, as hosts, had an impact on bringing those guys in. Oh and you did. And then, when they would show up the next year, we'd give them crap about like oh yeah, you're here because of us.
Speaker 1:I may have gotten a few of those jokes up. Yeah, here because of us, I may have gotten a few of those jokes, yeah.
Speaker 2:One thing. So when I, when we do these podcasts, I go on a little data data surge, right. I just go online, read as much as I can and I went through all your stats at hope college, so this one through every year kind of looked around. What I found very, very interesting is in cause you were there for five years, cause you put up some big games Okay so games, some high 20s. I think you had a 31-point game where I don't know if you barely missed a shot from anywhere. But then what I also noticed as you got into your junior and senior years, those big games receded a little bit, but your minutes and your contribution did not. You had more players come onto that team who were capable of doing that and your minutes didn't drop your. When I looked at that, I was shocked at the amount of minutes you put in for every game. Talk about how you, as a mature athlete, recognize the change in your team and then doing a little step back or say, hey, I'm gonna affect the game in these areas 100.
Speaker 1:Um well, if you ask the coaches, they'll make the joke that I didn't learn how to play defense until my fifth year.
Speaker 2:So that may be why Exactly Just outscoring them, just outscoring them.
Speaker 1:No, junior year. Junior year we had a unique team. We had very distinct roles on that team. We had two scorers, a big, and two really good defensive wings. We all recognized it. Nobody said it, but that's just kind of how it worked out.
Speaker 1:My senior year, winger Inc made a huge jump and then you had Marcus. I immediately recognized that in order for us to be successful, I'm probably losing shots, I'm probably going to lose a couple shots, but, more importantly, like I need those guys to be really, really good, really good, especially before or after Evan ended up getting hurt. And so just recognizing that you know, basketball is a 100% five on five and seeing that we've got all these options, we've got all these guys that can play, that can score, that can guard, I've got to get the best out of my dudes and my game will be just fine. Right, we win by 20, I end up with eight and I'm celebrating, like I just said, 50.
Speaker 1:Like we're, it was so about the team and when you build a culture where that's the case, right, you've got guys coming in, guarding really really hard, coming on out and then other guys just recognizing and celebrating that and just really buying into those different roles. I think you know one thing I'm I'm pretty proud of is I I never, afterwards I did, after I was done, I looked at my numbers. I won't lie to you. During while I was playing, I would look at Of course you're going to.
Speaker 1:Yes, I would look at my percentages. I would look at my percentages and then I would watch my turnovers. Those were. That was what I watched during film. If I was watching myself, I wasn't scouting, I was watching like the shots that I took, so I would rate my shot selection and then how many times I turned the ball over the points, the everything else that basketball players kind of judge themselves off of. I just I wanted to, I wanted to win. I had never won. I didn't win at East. We barely won my freshman year and when I got to Hope and it was really go time the only thing, there were games where I played really really well offensively and I was probably miserable to talk to after because we lost.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's not fun. This is what a lot of good athletes go through. They go through a time where they arrive at a place and they establish themselves and it's like I'm going to go do my thing, and you do it for a while and guess what? You're losing. And that's not fun. And then you figure out what, like you did, you ended up being on a team that played like a team.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And when you're sitting in stands and sitting with other fans or parents, whatever one of the biggest refrains you hear, they don't play together, they don't play as a team, they're not a group. And when you do have it, that's what it looks like. Let's go to one of the best parts about being part of the flying Dutch. Is that hope, calvin rivalry. You were on the good side of that in your time there. What's it like being on the floor in those games a game starting tip off all that, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:That. That, oh my gosh. That's the. I've been in some cool athletic environments that's got to be top three, if not number one. Like that's the feeling of going to Manor and playing there, winning there, winning there might be the best one, winning a conference championship there unbelievable. That's such a cool, fun, special rivalry, some things that maybe people don't know, and this is sweet. So Vincent Overway is one of my best friends and has been for a long time. The Overway family is amazing. Jay was the little kid that we'd mess around with.
Speaker 2:And these are Calvin players.
Speaker 1:These are Calvin basketball players. Yes, that would mess around with us when we'd go play 21 or we'd go shoot around and then to get to play against Jay and watch him turn into the player that he has been A force, and to get to compete and talk trash. And then a couple months ago we were all hanging out and it was like we were back in high school together just catching up. So that's really really cool that not only you get to compete and you're in this rivalry and there's a lot of trash talk and it's super, super fun and competitive, but then you get to kind of step back.
Speaker 1:As a senior I appreciated it more being done. It's really really cool to see all those guys, whether that's they're out at the beach or just running to each other while we're just out, kind of living in the same area, and to have these conversations with them and like relive those moments and those battles whether that's Adam Macker or whatever the case may be and just get to talk to him and talk hoop with him, like it's. It's such a cool special. I mean, it is the rivalry Like I. I challenge anyone to find another rivalry aside in the state of michigan I don't think espn says anybody's better no, I it's, it is.
Speaker 1:It's so cool, like for the for the night, for that night you feel like you're, you're playing in a big time like espn college basketball game and those the venues oh my gosh play into that right I mean devos and van noort are two of the absolute best venues you could go into I think what two years ago too, they filmed a like a mini documentary about it.
Speaker 1:That was really cool to be a part of that. So then, like it really felt like we were you know, we had cameras following us around in the weight room and stuff and that was. That was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:So you were the inspiration for quarterback and receiver not at all.
Speaker 1:Maybe they'll upgrade in a couple years and they can do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they'll go to a wellness teacher.
Speaker 1:Hey, I don't think I'm going to be a part of it.
Speaker 2:I was joking around with Ken the other day. We want to do an AD Just follow him around with the camera. Come on, there's some stuff going on right there, there's some stuff. You were under some great coaches at hope college, just to name a few uh, greg mitchell, ken george, ryan clingler. Who is to watch ryan clingler play, if you did you ever watch?
Speaker 1:any of his tapes? Did you watch him?
Speaker 2:one of the craftiest of crafty really fun to watch him play and there's more coaches in that there. What has it been like? What do you take from them as you move into your coaching role here at west ottawa?
Speaker 1:yeah, I. I think the the biggest thing I'm going to take away from them would be like like you need players, like you need players to believe in what you're doing, which means you need to, you need to put in the work like I saw them I saw coach carlson, I saw coach george, I saw coach mitch like work every single day, watch film, watch hours of film, talk each other, communicate and really just invest in us as basketball players and as people. You know they cared about us off the floor more than they did our production on the floor. Like I felt like I had people that had my back in terms of school, in terms of just really everything right, they totally took us all in. I mean, I think one through 15, if you'd asked our guys and they were sitting in this chair, they would say the same thing.
Speaker 1:I mean that's something that I'm absolutely going to try to bring to my teams in the future here and this season as well. Just that you know it's more than about basketball. But then also like, also, I'm going to push you, I'm going to challenge you because I believe in you, and it's not out of a place of animosity, but it's all belief, love, support. I see greatness in you and I want you to believe that and see that. And once they in my experience, in our experience, once that happened if you watch a lot of those games late in the year they're just kind of sitting back and watching us do our thing.
Speaker 1:I mean that would be the dream, with these guys right To push them to a point to where somebody throws a bad pass and before I can even stand up and yell Like I've got three guys being like hey, you got a two-stop there, let's get back on defense. Like that team brotherhood feel, yeah, it's so special when you're a part of it. And I saw coaches create that within our guys, because I don't think everybody I mean, I'll be honest, myself included, I don't think we all were that was like what we were going to do, and to watch them kind of build that within us was really, really special.
Speaker 3:So you talked a little bit there about investing in players on and off the court. As I was talking with coaches this morning, Coach Mitchell mentioned a mission trip that you guys took to the Dominican Republic and the impact that he saw that trip have on you. Can you just kind of share with us kind of what it was about that trip that really impacted you and made you who you are today?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I've always had high expectations on myself as a basketball player. I think that was like there were games where I maybe I didn't play to the standard that I felt I played and I would beat myself up about it and I'd be angry and I'd be upset and I'd probably be a little hard to talk to. But that's just. I knew that's who. I was Going on that trip totally like I wish I was able to go on that four or five times but to see the joy and the love that those kids had for not only each other but then the opportunity, like at some points, basketball at hope. There were days where I would. I would get into modes where I was like, okay, like this is a job, like we're 10 and 3. We need to get to 15 and whatever. Because I want to seed, like I want to be seeded, I don't have to wait on the conference tournament and last year we had fallen short of that right. So then it really was like, okay, we got to win this tournament to get into the tournament, got to win our conference tournament to get into the national one. And then it was just so refreshing as that part of my basketball career is over, to get to go to a place where it's 100% a game. Again. I don't know how much he told you, but really quick, the first day we got down there and again I can't get into over this now because I'm done. And again I can't get in trouble for this now because I'm done, we're down and we're at this place and it's a center for kids, right, and they're going over the rules with us and they're explaining. I'm like, okay, so this is where the basketball courts are and this is where the baseball fields.
Speaker 1:As soon as I heard basketball courts, I was like, yeah, I'm going to be there all day, you guys can worry, this is the baseball fields, where the volleyball court is. And he's talking, the leader's talking, the little kid kind of pulls on my shorts and I turn around and he's got a ball. And my Spanish is very, very average, but I can understand. Like I knew what he wanted to do and he like looked at me and he was like we'll play one-on-one, like one-on-one, and then there's like a group of 10 of us and we're all.
Speaker 1:I slowly started to take a few steps back and then we started playing one on one and then he's like alright, guys, you guys are good to go. He's like where's Clay? I was already like full sweat playing one on one with this kid, and so that whole day we were there for 4 or 5 hours and then just totally watching how basketball made me go from this complete outsider to being on the butt of their inside jokes. It was so refreshing to be like, okay, yes, this is exactly why I want to be around this game and I love this game because this is what it looks like at its purest form. You've got 40, 50 kids. They've got a scoreboard, their own makeshift scoreboard.
Speaker 2:Come on, it was the coolest.
Speaker 1:I have pictures, a scoreboard, their own makeshift scoreboard. Come on Like it was the coolest. I have pictures After this. I can show you it was the coolest. That's why I said Calvin's top three, because this one's up there. And then there's one more. It was the coolest basketball environment that I'd ever been in. They're keeping their own score, they've got quarters, they're playing for time.
Speaker 1:They would use, like they had one phone. The phone was like the time it was so cool and like to watch the smiles. Someone hits a three, everybody like they're not even on a team, like they're just waiting to play next and they all like it was so fun. It was, yeah, the joy that those kids had for being able to play a game with a really beat up ball and broken rims and the court's not very like it was.
Speaker 2:It was amazing this is amazing yeah gives you a little perspective, oh my gosh. Yes you are bringing that joy of basketball to practice. Right now you're working with varsity head coach jared riddell and assistant brian pal. What's it been like working with them so far?
Speaker 1:Awesome they.
Speaker 1:The way that they've wrapped me in encouraged me to have like my own voice, you know, and to talk and to really implore, use the basketball knowledge that I have, even though I'm a little younger than both of them has been awesome, you know they've.
Speaker 1:As a young guy, it's really easy to maybe kind of sit back in these coaches' meetings and not talk or share your opinion and think like, oh, it's just going to kind of get pushed to the side, but it's been cool to see.
Speaker 1:It makes me feel validated as a coach to see some of the things that I've brought up or suggested be implemented into practice and that just instills confidence in myself.
Speaker 1:And I think they recognize that and they do an awesome job of providing me little nuggets when I'm maybe leading a drill or my positioning when I'm coaching or watching guys or all the things that as a basketball player maybe you don't think about. But as a coach it's really really important to teach different things and breaking down certain things and Palmer was just texting me the other night about like how to go about communicating with certain guys right that maybe he has a relationship with. So not allowing me from just not making me start from like the bottom of the mountain but allowing me to, like they're offering their hand down and kind of helping me up, and it's been really, really cool and positive and the way that they push their guys while still getting them to believe, especially with this young group because it is a younger team aside from the three seniors. I believe it's so cool to watch their response and I think that comes because of the way that Palmer and Riddell have operated and have built that trust with these guys.
Speaker 2:November 26 West Ottawa High School, godwin Heights. I believe it's a Tuesday. It's a Tuesday night. Yep, you'll be on the sidelines. Has he got you your uh coaching swag yet?
Speaker 3:what's it look like? Yes, he does, it's coming.
Speaker 1:Some of it, some of I've got the. What do I the? The hoodie? What do you give me then? The like the quarters, that t-shirt, we got, I've got. I've got the hoodie. The quarter zip t-shirt, I've got a few of them.
Speaker 3:Coach Riddell's got a nice little pack put together for the coaches. We're going to look good.
Speaker 2:All right, well, I'll be shaking your hand. We'll be at the table. Bill Might be running music. We'll see.
Speaker 1:Let's go.
Speaker 2:But it's going to be really fun. It has been truly, truly, truly, truly, an absolute pleasure to sit down with Clayton Dykhaus. You bring the energy, you bring the love. We are so glad to have you at the school. I want to see you old and gray with a belly in about 40 years and we're going to be back here. It won't be me or Bill, but it'll be somebody else and you can play some of this. Thank you, clayton Dykhaus.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much, man. Thank Clayton Dykhouse. Thanks so much, man. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
