La Tour in rare air as member of Seattle Rotary basketball team

For a player who has won a North Kitsap purple and gold state high school basketball championship, it takes some time to get used to seeing Jonas La Tour in a light blue jersey.

Of course, it’s not the color that matters to La Tour. Important for the aspiring senior of the Vikings is the program he is representing this summer: Seattle Rotary, one of 32 Nike-sponsored teams in the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) in the USA

“It’s amazing,” said La Tour, who plays on the Rotary roster of 17 and younger. “It’s just fun to play with the team I play with – they are all just so good. It makes my life easier. “

When it comes to AAU heavyweights in west Washington, Seattle Rotary is high on the list. Daryll Hennings co-founded the selected club in the mid-1990s. Its past members include a host of current and past NBA players who grew up in the Seattle area, including Bremerton native Marvin Williams and former University of Washington / Portland Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy.

At the Showcase Battle in Seattle last weekend, spectators stood shoulder to shoulder at Centralia’s NW Sports Hub to catch a glimpse of the main event of the three-day tournament in the Open Division game: Rotary takes on another Seattle-based AAU power to: Friends of Hoop. Rotary beat the state’s No. 1 recruit, Koren Johnson of Seattle, with two points in overtime, adding a profit margin off the free-throw line.

In the presence of his father, grandparents and other family members, La Tour finished the game with 8 points on a pair of 3-pointers and a breakaway dunk, showing off his hops and quick and easy release on shots. In AAU, tournament games are typically shorter and faster with rules modified to keep the action going. During the battle in Seattle, almost 120 boys’ teams were on the eight courses at the NW Sports Hub over three days.

Hennings believes he has had a kitsap player or two at Rotary since Marvin Williams, but he couldn’t remember names. La Tour proved he was one of them after completing a trial session in February that stretched over four weeks and included 200 players.

“At first I thought it was a date,” said La Tour, who became the Olympic League’s Most Valuable Player during his junior season at North Kitsap, averaging 26.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals . They called us back, then they kept calling us back. I think it was four or five trial sessions before the team was done. “

“We’re doing a whole series,” explained Hennings. “It takes about a month just so we can make sure we give everyone enough minutes. It’s hard when you don’t come and go from Rotary and the environment is different. So let’s give it a couple of times. “

How did the 6-foot-5 La Tour fare?

“He did well – that’s why he’s here,” says Hennings with a smile. “I like him very much. He’s a very good boy, can be trained. He can play of course. He has a motor, tough, multi-faceted. He can play guard, he can play forward. He can guard big ones, guard little ones.”

La Tour, who helped North Kitsap earn the Class 2A state title at North Kitsap in 2020, said he feels no pressure to compete with Seattle Rotary because he knows he shouldn’t be shouldering the same burden that he is usually carries with the Vikings. La Tour wants to play in college and is getting the interest of NCAA DI and D-II coaches, but he’s not going to be out of character to impress anyone.

“I make the most of every minute I get. You have to do that, “said La Tour.” I definitely have another role, I’m just trying to take it on. “

Seattle Rotary still has several major tournaments on its summer schedule, including the Cali Live Summer Showcase this weekend in Irvine, California and the Nike EYBL Peach Jam tournament from July 13-25 in Augusta, Georgia.

One of La Tour’s North Kitsap teammates, his aspiring senior Johny Olmsted, said La Tour’s involvement with Seattle Rotary is a great accomplishment and shows that there are talented players across the state – not just in the 206.

“I’m very happy for him,” said Olmsted, whose Total Package AAU team nearly knocked out the 16-year-old Seattle Rotary team at the Battle in Seattle tournament and fell two points behind. “Seattle Rotary is known across the country.”

La Tour said he was proud to represent West Sound knowing he is in rare air.

“This is so important to me,” he said. “I’m trying to get Kitsap on the map.”