MUSKEGON — It’s not too often a school gets to celebrate three athletes the caliber of Paige Anderson, Liam Smith and Jaxson Whitaker at the same time, so the Rockets took advantage of the opportunity last Wednesday, Nov. 8, staging a signing day event for all three.
Anderson, who took third place at the MHSAA state golf finals this fall, and Smith, the Rockets’ all-time leader in both goals and assists, earned Division I offers to compete at Mid-American Conference schools Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan respectively. Whitaker, who’s already the Rockets’ all-time leader in three-pointers made and is on course to earn the school’s career scoring record this upcoming season, inked to Division II Ferris State.
Of the three, Smith has been committed the longest; he announced his decision to attend WMU prior to this season. He capped his career this year with 98 goals and 38 assists, not to mention winning a pair of district championships. He was recently named to the state coaches’ association Dream Team - the best players across all divisions - and was of course first team all-state in Division 1 as well.
Smith said his close relationship with Broncos’ coach Chad Wiseman led to his early decision. He said he committed just a day after his campus visit, when WMU offered.
“Chad, one of his philosophies is growing you as a man just as much as a soccer player,” Smith said. “Obviously he’s going to train you to be the best soccer player you can be, but he also wants you to be the best man you can be. That stood out. The players stood out. The facilities stood out. They have an indoor facility, Seelye Center, I think it’s called, and it’s beautiful. The soccer field is in prime shape and the players around the community and the brotherhood (are) like here at Reeths-Puffer.”
Smith has been outspoken during his career about the benefits he felt he gained from staying at R-P rather than pursue a bigger stage that may have resulted in even more recruiting attention, and he hopes that the results he got from that decision can help future star players make that same call.
“I think this is a perfect example for any young player, if they can just see what I’ve been doing and see what I did, and understand if you put in the work and put in the time and you trust the people around you, and you just do it for a greater purpose than yourself, then anything is possible,” Smith said.
The Rocket star added that he thanks God, as well as his teammates, family and everyone who’s been in his corner over the years for helping him reach this point.
Anderson’s process, meanwhile, moved at a much different speed. The Rocket has long wanted to play collegiate golf, but as she continued to win big this fall, attention picked up. When she finished her career with a lifetime best round of 68, earning third place at the Division 2 state finals, she drew the attention of the EMU Eagles.
A campus visit followed, and - soon after - a commitment.
“I toured the facilities (Nov. 4), and the golf course,” Anderson said. “I just fell in love with how great they were. I could picture myself being there. It’s really the perfect spot.”
Anderson said she’s most looking forward to the increased competition at the Division I level. Throughout the last three years of her Rockets’ career, Anderson was the unquestioned top player on the roster. She said she’s ready to earn her spot again.
“I think I’m going to like having to work for my spot, to work to be a starter, rather than just having it handed to me,” Anderson said. “My improvements this year made me realize I could really play at this level.”
R-P coach Matt Pallett said he’s proud of Anderson for the work she put in to become a star, and added that her impact will span far beyond the many trophies she helped bring home for the Rockets.
“When I took the program over, I had five girls, and this year, we had 12,” Pallett said. “Paige is going to leave a lasting impact on our program. The younger girls see how hard she works. Some of the younger, better players were able to go out and play with her and see how she handles things on the golf course. It’s just going to do wonders for our program moving forward.”
Whitaker has teamed up with Travis Ambrose for the past two seasons to lead the Rocket hoopsters, and will do so again this fall. The duo will split up after this season, with Whitaker Ferris-bound while Ambrose recently announced a commitment to Central Michigan in football.
“We said it’d be really cool if we went to the same college, but we also respected that we want to make the best decisions for ourselves, and celebrate each other for what we decide to do,” Whitaker said. “We’re going our opposite ways, but we’ve talked, and Ferris and Central aren’t that far away (from each other), so we’ll definitely still hang out a bunch.”
Whitaker said he visited several schools, and Ferris State always “stuck out to me.” He credited Bulldogs’ coach Andy Bronkema with pushing the right buttons in his recruitment.
“It’ll be exciting to see how I play against other college players,” Whitaker said. “I think it’ll be fun, just that journey of college basketball through the years.”
Rockets’ coach Nate Aardema has been able to guide Whitaker through the bulk of his varsity career so far and expressed pride in his senior star - not just for his success on the court but for his willingness to be a well-rounded athlete.
“He’s just a phenomenal kid,” Aardema said. “This spring, he was throwing like, 86 or 87 (miles an hour) for Butch (Attig, baseball coach), came out and averaged over 20 yards a catch in football. He’s good at tennis. He’s good at ping-pong, he’s good at cornhole, he’s good at spikeball. He competes to a level where he wants to just be great at everything, That’s one of the things we talk about in our program, is that to be great at anything, you have to be good at everything. And he is.
“I’ve never been around a kid that not only works, but works (as) intelligently. He works on stuff that’s going to translate into games. He trains his body, gets the right rest, gets the right nutrition. He does every single thing he can to be successful.”
