RENO, Nev. (KOLO) –
Jaeden West was an all-league basketball player at Mineral County High School. Now, the Hawthorne standout is heading overseas for the next step in his career.
West has committed to play at CIS University in Madrid, a program in Spain that combines college coursework with competitive club-level basketball in a pipeline tied to professional leagues.
“It’s not something that occurs a lot in Hawthorne,” West said. “It’s exciting, most definitely.”
The move is a big one for West, who comes from a small rural town in Nevada.
Hawthorne’s Jaeden West to play basketball in Spain.(kolo)
“It’s a big jump from my hometown being Hawthorne and only having close to 2,000 or 3,000 residents, to now the second-largest city in Spain,” he said.
According to West, the program is designed to help players reach their full potential while giving freshmen immediate playing opportunities.
“Their main focus is to get you as best as you can get, like reach you to your max potential,” he said.
West said many players spend a year in the program before moving on to the professional level.
“A lot of kids go there for one year and then they go pro,” he said. “So it’s a good program and they have a lot of kids that make it to that next level.”
The overseas experience could also help West eventually transfer to a Division I program in the United States, giving him experience in a professional-style basketball environment and a longer season than many college players get.
“It’s a 10-month program through — it’s all pure basketball,” he said.
West says the journey is about more than basketball. It’s also a major cultural change.
“I’ve never been outside of the United States once,” he said. “The farthest I’ve gone is California.”
Hawthorne’s Jaeden West to play basketball in Spain.(kolo)
He added that Hawthorne has helped make the opportunity possible, with community members organizing fundraisers and donating money to support the trip.
West says that support is proof that small towns can produce high-level talent — even if athletes in rural areas don’t always get the same exposure.
“There’s a lot of kids that are from very small towns and they’re very good,” he said. “They just can’t showcase their skills to all the big coaches and the certain people who need to see it because we’re in such a small place and there’s not a lot of connections around us.”
His advice to other athletes is simple: put yourself out there.
West says using apps like FieldLevel can help players get noticed — the same way he did.
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