Rehmel to continue hoop career at Central Arkansas

Former Shakamak High School and Olney Central (Ill.) College player Jared Rehmel (above, left) is having fun while signing autographs after a game during the 2009 regular season. [Order this photo]

"In the end, it came down to Central Arkansas and Eastern Kentucky," said Rehmel, who scored 1,126 points in his prep career at Shakamak and finished with over 1,000 points in two seasons at Olney. "It was a really tough decision, but in the end I just wanted to go somewhere where I would get a chance to play and contribute."

OCC coach Michael Burris said it was just a matter of time before Rehmel's dream of playing Division I college basketball came true.

"Early on, he got an offer from Kentucky Wesleyan, a Division II school," said the Eastern Greene graduate. "But as the year went on, Division I schools started to notice and I started taking a ton of phone calls and sending out a ton of tapes."

Burris said that Rehmel, who averaged 21.3 points, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game and helped lead the Blue Knights to their first 20-win season since 2002-03 and was named Illinois Basketball Services (IBS) JUCO Player of the Year, had to go through a lot during his time at OCC.

"Jared was a tremendous basketball player for us," said Burris. "I always liked him. I saw him play 12-13 times in high school.

"He really made great strides to help us get the program going in the right direction again. He broke his back in that car accident in August 2007 and had to sit out a year. But he came back to average almost 22 points per game and probably was the face of our program. He exceeded all expectations."

Central Arkansas coach Rand Chappell said on the UCAsports.com web site that Jared, who scored 35 points in a 96-94 double overtime win over Southwestern Illinois in January, is coming off of an outstanding career at Olney Central.

"Jared's a guy that's been extremely successful on every level he has played on. He led his high school team to a Final Four appearance (Class A Semistate championship game). He was runner-up MVP this past year on a 20-win team. He's produced on every team and we're excited to bring a guy like that into our program."

UCA also has signed Tadre Sheppard of Western Oklahoma State University and Carlos dos Santos of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, as well as OCC running mate at guard Ryan Daniels, guard Chris Poellnitz from Iowa Western Community College and forward Chris Williams from Missouri State West Plains.

"Jared is a very good shooter," Chappell said of the 160-pound Rehmel, who also was an Indiana All-Star baseball player at Shakamak but decided to focus on hoops instead of playing two sports at OCC. "But he also is a guy who is creative and plays with a high level of energy.

"He is good at creating baskets for himself and for everyone else around him."

Rehmel, a 2009 All-Great Rivers Athletic Conference and All-Region 24 first-team selection, said that he averaged about 15 points per game as a freshman at OCC in 2006-07, before the accident.

"I was riding with a buddy and he missed a curve, overcorrected and hit a tree at 55 mph," said Rehmel. "I was less than a mile from my house.

"The driver broke his femur and one of my cousins was bleeding internally. My other cousin was in the back seat with me."

Rehmel, whose 3-pointer at the buzzer was the difference in a 83-80 win over Lincoln, Ill. back in December, said that he actually broke his back in half, his L-2 vertebra.

"They had to put two bars in my back," said Rehmel, an honorable mention Junior College All-American this past season. "Whenever it happened, it was the worst pain that I have ever been through.

"I was in the hospital for about a week and then I had to wear a back brace for several months."

Rehmel said the wreck happened in August 2007 and he was released to play in March 2008.

"I just started working out again and tried to get back into shape."

He said he was apprehensive about his back after returning to the court at first.

"I got into basketball shape pretty quickly," said Rehmel. "Once I started playing again it didn't even feel like I had been hurt.

"I went up for a rebound during a pick-up game and guy landed on top of me. I was not hurt. At that point. I knew I was healthy."

He said he used his redshirt season -- 2007-08 -- to focus on school and get healthy.

Rehmel, who hit for 35 points in a 108-100 victory over Sound Doctrine and 27 against Vincennes University in November 2008, said he had a lot of fun this season.

"Everybody got along really well and we had a lot of talent and good team chemistry," he said. "We had several players will be playing ball at four-year schools this fall.

"I would say I tried to bring a toughness and would do whatever it took to win. My job was to knock down open shots, but also try to be a leader on the floor. When things went wrong sometimes, I tried to bring everybody together and get them back on the right page."

He said he was surprised the night he was honored for reaching the 1,000-point plateau at Olney Central.

"I wasn't even paying attention to that," said Rehmel, who plans to major in education and become a history teacher and coach. "They called me out on that.

"It was just surreal. We had just beaten Southeastern Illinois, who was leading the conference and nationally ranked. To win that game was awesome and it was something else to be honored afterwards."

Rehmel, whose brother Tyler just completed his senior season as a baseball player at Eastern Kentucky, said that he would like to add 15-20 pounds of muscle to his frame to prepare for D-I hoops.

Burris said he is sad to see Rehmel leave, but excited about what lies ahead for him.

"The biggest thrill for me is when our players leave here and I can see how they grow as people, young men and players when they transfer," said Burris. "I am really happy for Jared and wish him nothing but the best."