Hello, I would like to take this time to introduce myself to you. My name is J. R. VanHoose. I am a 6'9" Middle School Social Studies Teacher and Varsity Assistant Coach at Paintsville High School in Kentucky. I am also currently entering my second season as a player in the International Basketball League (IBL) as a member of the West Virginia Wild based in Charleston, WV. I will be keeping a diary on this site that will tell about my life as a player in the IBL and what life is like in the "minor leagues" of basketball.
 
I would like to give a little background about myself so that you will be able to understand where I have come from and what I have done as a basketball player. I played in high school at Paintsville (where I now work and help my old high school coach) from 1994-98. The high school is very small, only about 320 students in grades 7-12 (Paintsville the town is small too with only about 4,500 people). As a high school player I scored 3,095 career points, grabbed 2,069 career rebounds, and hold the Kentucky state high school record for blocked shots in a career with 541. I was the 1997 and 1998 Gatorade and USA Today Kentucky Player of the Year as well as a 1998 Parade Magazine All-American. I was also named Kentucky's Mr. Basketball in 1998. During my high school career I helped my high school to four straight "Sweet 16" Appearances, 3 straight Final Four appearances, 2 State Championship game appearances and 1 State Championship (1996). This was a great accomplishment because in Kentucky there is only one basketball state tournament, the "Sweet 16" and each year there is only one state champion in boy's basketball.
 
After high school I attended Marshall University in Huntington, WV (just about one hour from Paintsville) where I received a scholarship to play basketball. I received offers from many different schools (Indiana, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, etc.) but I wanted to go to a place where I could play immediately and be close to my family and friends so they could come watch every home game. I scored 1,803 points (5th All-time) and grabbed 1,083 rebounds (2nd All-time) during my career at Marshall University. I was named All Mid-American Conference each of my four seasons and helped Marshall to a national ranking of #29 during my junior season. I graduated from Marshall in 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts (emphasis in history) and was named a 2002 Verizon Academic All-American.
 
After Marshall I was drafted in the NBDL by the North Charleston Lowgators, but I was released after only a few weeks. I joined the West Virginia Miners of the UPBL, but the team folded after only two exhibition games because of lack of funding. I had tons of offers to go to Europe but I was unsure if I wanted to continue to play, plus I needed to start making money to pay the bills. I decided to quit playing and become a teacher.
 
I joined the staff at Paintsville High School in 2003 and while teaching I went back to school, this time to Morehead State, to obtain my Master's Degree in Education (I graduated in May 2006). Last year, 2006, I was looking at the Eurobasket.com website, just keeping up-to-date with some of my former teammates and seeing how the were doing overseas. I came upon the link for the IBL, I had never heard of them before and I become intrigued. It was much to my surprise that I learned that there was a team in West Virginia in the league. I decided to send them an e-mail and see if they would be interested in having my come up for a try-out, I wanted to see if I could still play (I wasn't sure that I could). I had been playing in men's leagues and pick-up games, but I wasn't sure if I could still play on a high level.
 
Well, they were interested and I came in for a try-out that next week (it was on a Thursday). I surprised even myself, I could still play and they wanted me to join the team for their next game, which was the next day (Friday). Well, I could hardly wait, I was so excited I was going to be playing pro basketball again. I figured I would probably be sitting the bench and just playing sparingly, but I was o.k. with that, I was going to be playing again. Well, I didn't start (like I figured) but I got in pretty quick off the bench, my first points were a rebound put-back and I hit my next shot which was a three-point attempt. I played very well in my first pro game in a while and ended up leading the team in scoring with 21 and 8 rebounds.
 
The rest of the season was great, I was having a good time and basketball was fun again!! I played 13 games for the Wild and finished the season averaging 26.8 ppg, 15.5 rpg and shot 54% from the field. I made the 2006 IBL Eastern All-Star Team and ProBasketballNews.com named me one of the Top 20 Minor League Players in the United States for the Spring/Summer Season (#18).
 
Since last season I have been contacted by many agents and professional teams from Europe, but I like my teaching job and I have been approached by some other schools to become their school’s head basketball coach. My wife and I have a lot of options right now to look at, we would love to travel the world and see new things, but we are not sure about the stability of European basketball in some situations.
 
I will be writing this diary to give you a look into the life of a player in the minor leagues, what we do, what we see, and what basketball is like. You will also see what happens to me as a player, in my teaching life, and with my wife and our situation. We are currently trying to start a family, so this could weigh heavily on what I decided to do in the following basketball season. Stay tuned, you may laugh, you may cry, but I promise it will be an interesting ride!!!!
 
Yours in basketball!!!
 
J. R.