Six years ago, Joshua Reisman and Tyler Amaya celebrated on the Tacoma Dome floor as Mount Vernon High School celebrated a state championship.
Now, the two are back on the basketball court together, teammates once again as members of the Everett Explosion.
And while the two may be playing just a short journey down I-5 from the Mount Vernon gym that hosted those undefeated 2001 Bulldogs, Amaya and Reisman have traveled a long, long way to end up so close to home.
After high school, the two were teammates again at Gonzaga, where Reisman had a scholarship and Amaya went as a walk-on. Both red shirted their freshman year and played for the Bulldogs the following year – Amaya having earned a scholarship – before both elected to transfer to different schools, seemingly ending their run as teammates.
Basketball, however, would eventually bring the two together after each traveled the country and the globe chasing their hoop dreams.
“I kind of had a feeling that we’d meet up sooner or later,” said Amaya, the MVP of the 2001 Class 3A state tournament. “We like playing together so I figured it would happen at some point.”
After leaving Gonzaga, Amaya played at Dixie State in Utah, then at Western Washington. Before joining the Explosion, he was playing in Holland. Now, Amaya is happy to be home.
“I think when you’re growing up, you don’t realize how beautiful the place we live in is until you go see the world,” he said. “After the places I’ve lived and been, it just makes me enjoy this area so much more.”
If not for Amaya, Reisman probably wouldn’t be back in Washington, or even playing organized basketball. From Gonzaga, Reisman went to San Jose City College, then transferred to BYU, where he never played because of injury.
Reisman also left the country to play, playing professionally in Mexico. For the better part of the last year, he has been living in Los Angeles not playing basketball. Instead, he was acting, doing mostly commercial work for Nike.
Reisman’s career as a thespian was put on hold, however, when and old friend made a recruiting call. The Explosion was thin at the point guard position, and coach Randy Redwine, who had heard of Reisman, asked Amaya about his former teammate.
“I probably wouldn’t have come back without him calling me,” said Reisman. “Being that he was the one trying to get me on the team, that sold it. I wasn’t playing for about nine months, and it was killing me. I had planned on playing again next season somewhere internationally, and when he told me to come up here, I just thought it was a perfect opportunity to get back into the game.”
After Reisman’s first game, Amaya said his coach asked him why he had been holding out on him for so long.
The other big selling point for Reisman? Everett’s record. After experiencing team success at pretty much every level they’ve ever played, Amaya and Reisman expect to win when they take the floor.
“Tyler told me the team was like 12-3 or 11-3 when he called and I thought, that’s a winning team, and you can’t really pass up an opportunity to play on a winning team with a teammate from high school,” Reisman said. “For me, a winning team is the most important thing. Even if you don’t do well individually, if you win it makes you feel better at the end of the day.”
With an IBL West best record of 13-4, it’s just like old times for the former state champions. Amaya and Reisman, running the floor together again, having traveled so far to end up back home, teammates once again.
“I thought basketball would bring us back together sooner or later,” said Reisman. “When Ty called me to see if I was interested in playing for this team, I jumped at that opportunity. It’s always good to come home.”
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