State Champs! Sports Network

Western Michigan just snared some UP Power for its hoop program. As in one of the true great UP athletes of all-time and one of the most dominant small-school athletes in MHSAA history….TRUTH!!!

 

Powers North Central all-state senior forward and Mr. Basketball finalist Jason Whitens signed with Western Michigan this week, ending months of speculation as to where the multi-skilled thoroughbred would wind up at the college level.BroncosNation, you’ve gotten yourself a real hidden gem!!

 

The 6-foot-5 Whitens is known for his winning ways. His reputation will precede him wherever he goes in the UP from this point forward for the rest of his life (Yeah, THAT;’S the kind of impact he made!!). He’ll depart high school with five state-title rings, the last three in a row on the Class D hardwood and two straight on the 8-man gridiron scene as an all-state quarterback. He hasn’t lost a game in either sport since 2014 – North Powers’ boys hoopsters have won a nation-best 83 consecutive ball games.

 

Whitens’ averaged 23 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals per night in 2017. Last month, he took his prep cage squad to another crown, finished third in the Mr. Basketball ballot and collected a second Class D Player of the Year Award in a row. WOW, are you kidding me?….Is this kid a MEGA talent or what?

 

Because he competed at the small-school level as a high schooler, recruiters were shy to pull the trigger on offering him until late in the process. In March, North Dakota State came in with his first Division I scholarship bid. UW-Green Bay offered soon thereafter and word out of the Patriot League was that Colgate may have been on the verge of offering if he had not inked his National Letter of Intent with the WMU.