Medina County Sports Hall of Fame: Medina's Jon Teske still stands alone as county's lone NBA player

Jon Teske always knew he'd have to pass a lot of tests to reach the NBA, but he never envisioned the one he had to take multiple times. The 7-foot-1, 265-pound Teske, a 2016 Medina High graduate who will be inducted into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame during June 25 ceremonies at the Galaxy Conference Center in Wadsworth, woke up on Christmas morning in 2021, called his parents and, with a day off from his basketball responsibilities with the Lakeland Magic of the G League, went for a hike on a Florida nature trail. That night, he broke into a cold sweat, couldn't sleep and felt terrible. The next morning, he called Loveland's trainer, who instructed him to get tested for COVID-19. He did, and it came back positive. Teske stayed in his apartment for more than a week, and early in 2022 his agent called and informed him the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies were interested in signing him to a 10-day contract. "I said, 'That's awesome, but I want you to know I have COVID,'" Teske said. "I was on the ninth or 10th day, so he said, 'Say yes to them. Just don't tell them.'" When an official from the Grizzlies called who Teske knew well from his four years playing at Michigan, he was told he had to get to Brooklyn that night, because the Grizzlies were playing the Nets the next evening. "This was 5:45 p.m. and I was in Lakeland," Teske said. "I said I could get to Tampa in 45 minutes. He booked me an 8 p.m. flight and said to text him when I landed and someone would pick me up, so I threw a bunch of things in a suitcase and left." The flight out of Tampa got delayed, so Teske didn't land in New York until around 2 a.m. A driver immediately took him to the Ritz-Carlton where the Grizzlies were staying. At 4 a.m., he met a Grizzlies official and took another COVID test, which came back positive. Teske was told to get some rest, and at 9 a.m. a Grizzlies trainer came to his hotel room and he took another test. The results hadn't come back, so he missed the Memphis shootaround at 11:30 a.m. "Then it's 1 (p.m.), then 2, then 3," Teske said. "At 5 I got a call and they said, 'You're negative. Come sign the contract.'" Other than the driver, Teske was the only passenger on the bus that took him to the arena. When he got there, the first person to greet him was shooting guard Desmond Bane, then in his second NBA season. "He was the nicest guy in the world, but I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know who he was at the time," Teske said. "He congratulated me and told me he was glad I was part of the team." The Grizzlies, whose roster also featured Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson, Dillon Brooks and an ill Steven Adams, wound up beating a Nets team that featured Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden 118-104 en route to finishing 56-26 that season. With 55 seconds remaining, Teske entered the Jan. 3, 2022 game, missed his only shot and got a steal, making him the first — and still only — player from a Medina County high school to play in the NBA. The next night, Memphis played in Cleveland. Teske didn't play, but his parents and most of the Medina boys basketball team were in attendance as the Grizzlies won again. Teske later played three minutes in a home win over Detroit and four in a road victory against the Los Angeles Clippers, finishing his brief NBA career with two rebounds, one assist and one steal in eight minutes. In his six games with the Grizzlies, they went 6-0. "It was surreal," Teske said of entering an NBA game for the first time. "I didn't believe it at first. People see the stuff on the court, but all the stuff behind the scenes — the meals are right in front of you and everyone helps you with everything — it's just a different lifestyle those guys are living." GROWING UP...AND UP There was never much question Teske was going to be a basketball player, and a tall one at that. Dad Ben is 6-8 and mom Julie is 6-1, and both played the sport while attending Grace College in Indiana. Older sister Hannah, a swimmer at Medina, and younger sister Abby, a basketball player, also top 6-0. Teske, who will turn 29 on Monday, took it to another level, both on the court and with the measuring stick. After the family moved to Medina from Grandville, Mich., just before the start of his sixth-grade year, the only question was whether Teske, who later played AAU basketball with a number of players headed to St. Ignatius, would do so for the Bees. "I remember sitting in the family's living room and telling them that in four years, this kid will have the chance to go (to college) anywhere he wants," said Anthony Stacey, Medina's coach at the time. "Ben looked at me like I had three heads. Jon was like a baby deer in the headlights at first, but he just had a tremendous feel for the game. You could just see the upside was off the charts." Several of Teske's AAU teammates wanted him to go to St. Ignatius, but with Hannah already attending Medina, travel arrangements would have been difficult. Plus, the Bees were coming off a Division I regional final appearance in 2011-12 and Teske saw the excitement build in Medina, so it only made sense to stay at home. "My dad was working in Akron, so it was in the opposite direction (of Ignatius)," Teske said. "It just wasn't ideal (to go to high school in Cleveland). Medina was the simplest choice. It was a good school, so it was kind of a no-brainer to go to Medina. Plus, it was free." Teske started on the varsity immediately as a ninth-grader, though an ankle injury sidelined him for a few games. He went on to score 1,130 career points and earn Gazette MVP as a junior and senior. Teske also was honorable mention All-Ohio as a junior and first-team all-state and a Mr. Basketball finalist as a senior. "The first time I met him he was 6-3 in seventh grade," said future Gazette MVP Luke Schaefer, who was a year behind Teske in school. "I was like, 'Holy cow, this guy's huge.' "Playing with Jon made me worse defensively, because I always knew if someone got by me, he was going to be there to block the shot. He was just a quiet, gentle giant who could get a triple-double of points, rebounds and blocks. He was great to play with, because he made my life a lot easier." After averaging 4.6 points as the Bees went 12-11 in 2012-13, Teske improved to 10.3 points and added 7.1 rebounds as a sophomore, when a Medina team that included Branden Wilkens and Craig Randall went 19-7 and reached the district finals. "He might be the best team player I've ever coached," Stacey said. "He could score 30, but he was all about doing whatever he had to do for us to win. Sometimes I tried to explain to him that scoring more and being more aggressive would help us do that, but he was young. He was just a gentle giant. He's one of the greatest kids I've ever coached. I love the kid to death." Stacey left Medina after Teske's sophomore year, with current coach Chris Hassinger taking over. Getting bigger and stronger, Teske averaged 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.7 blocks as a Bees team that included Zach Bennett, Evan Schreck, Ben Geschke, Tyler King, Jackson Sartain and Schaefer went just 11-11 in the regular season but finished 15-12 after advancing to the regional semifinals. "We had a baseline out-of-bounds play that worked every single time," Schaefer said. "I just threw it up and he caught it at the rim and dunked it. He was 7-1, and people aren't used to playing against someone that size. In practice, I'd try to shoot a floater over him thinking I gave myself enough room, and then he'd put that arm up. It was like a shadow came over you." In his final high school season, Teske averaged 16.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.6 blocks as the Bees went 19-7 and reached the district championship. "As a basketball player, he was dominant and game-changing," Hassinger said. "As a person, he was genuine. What you see is what you get with him. "He was the biggest culture-changer and game-changer we've had in terms of size, skill, defense and knowledge. There's no other kid who has impacted the game as much as him." COLLEGE AND THE PROS Teske's college choices came down to Michigan, Ohio State, Dayton, Xavier and Purdue, but the Wolverines were always in the lead. "I just really loved them from the start," he said. "I'd grown up in Michigan, but I was a huge Ohio State fan growing up, too. My dad is still an Ohio State fan, so I knew all about the rivalry and visited both places. I just liked Michigan more." With the Wolverines, Teske played three seasons under John Beilein, who then left to become coach of the Cavaliers, and his senior year under Juwan Howard. He played in the NCAA championship game as a sophomore backup to road roommate and future NBA star Mo Wagner and finished his career tied with teammate Zavier Simpson for the most wins in program history (108). "He had the ability to shoot the three, he was a willing passer and he was a great teammate," Beilein said. "All the things we valued so much, he had. Jon was the perfect teammate. He had to play behind an NBA player for two years. In today's world, a lot of guys wouldn't do that, but he was ready his junior year." For that, Beilein credited Teske's parents, grandparents and high school coaches. "Some (college) coaches don't want good families so they can boss the kid around," he said. "We wanted families who valued the education, who valued the intangibles, not 'You're going to make my son a pro.' There's not any better family than the Teske family. He also had very good coaches in high school. They did a great job with him." Teske played in 129 games in his Michigan career, including 109 in a row over his last three seasons. He graduated fifth in program history in career blocks (165) and 25th in rebounding (615) while scoring 856 points and helping the Wolverines reach at least the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament three straight years. COVID canceled the event his senior year. Teske, who averaged 9.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 2.0 blocks as a junior and 11.6, 6.7, 1.1 and 1.8 as a senior, has fond memories of reaching the NCAA championship as a sophomore, when Michigan fell 79-62 to Villanova. After winning the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines beat Texas A&M and Florida State to reach the Final Four, then downed Loyola Chicago in the semifinals. "That was one of the best times of my life," he said. "It was the most fun I've ever had on the court." Teske didn't play a ton that season due to the presence of Wagner, but he hit some big free throws in a tournament win over Houston and learned a lot from his road roommate, a native of Germany who now plays for the Orlando Magic. "He brought a different intensity to the game," Teske said. "He knew how to get under people's skin, but he brought me out of my shell. He helped me a ton in my first two years." Teske also enjoyed playing for Beilein, who he called a father and grandfather figure, and Howard, who starred at Michigan before going on to a long NBA career. "(Beilein) knows so much about the game," he said. "He's coached at every level and he's so smart. His system is so complex. Every set has five or six options. "By my senior year, I thought I could give the professional level a try, so I wanted to pick (Howard's) brain about how to play the five spot in college and the pros." In Teske's final season, the Wolverines were warming up for a Big Ten Tournament game against Rutgers in Indianapolis when the players were pulled off the court just prior to pregame introductions. Moments later, the game was canceled, as was the NCAA Tournament. "An hour later we were on a bus heading back to Ann Arbor," Teske said. "It's still crazy to think about to this day." It got crazier. Teske went undrafted, but helped Lakeland, which is affiliated with the Orlando Magic, win a G League championship in 2021, when all games were played in a bubble. "That was unique," he said. "Every morning we got tested. Our hotel had a pool, a game room and a fishing place. Otherwise you were in your hotel room, which was two queen beds, a TV and a bathroom. "We were a four or five seed (in the playoffs) and only eight teams made it, but we won three games in four days. That was awesome. In my mind I'm thinking, 'This is just a G League championship. I can't imagine what winning a Super Bowl or NBA championship would be like.'" The following season, Teske returned to Loveland, had his brief NBA stint with the Grizzlies and then finished the season with Lakeland. Right after the season ended, he returned to Medina and, on the advice of his agent, quickly signed to play a few games in Belgium for Filou Oostende. That turned out to be a fiasco. After his dad dropped him off at the airport, Teske was unable to board the flight because his COVID test was an hour too old, so Ben Teske had to drive back and pick him up. The next day he got another COVID test and flew from Cleveland to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., but was unable to board a flight to Brussels because he was missing a document to enter Belgium. It was 8 p.m. at that point. The team finally sent the document and Teske arrived in Belgium the next morning. "It was just a complete disaster," he said. "I flew overnight, got there at 6 a.m. and some old guy from the team came and picked me up and brought me to Oostende. We went straight to the gym and I met the general manager, coach and players. "The locker room was smaller than Medina's and the Medina weight room is way bigger. None of the players spoke English and the season was 80% over. I got to my apartment and it smelled and had no hot water. The first night I didn't sleep at all. I just broke down and cried." LIFE AFTER BASKETBALL Miserable, Teske paid for a flight to Cleveland and was back in Medina a few days later. At the recommendation of his sister Hannah, he got a summer job working at First Day School Supplies with best friend Brian Moran. It was at that point that Teske realized he had had his fill of pro basketball. "I had actually talked about it with my dad halfway through the (2021-22) season," he said. "We talked multiple times, and my parents were fine with it. They just said, 'Do what you want to do. If you're not having fun, it might be time to move on.' "It's 2022, I'm 24 years old and I got a taste of the NBA. I can say I made it. I gave it my all and I was ready for something different. I wasn't having fun with basketball anymore." After a number of months totally enjoying stacking boxes in a warehouse, Teske returned to Michigan, took a job with Gordon Food Service and served as an assistant coach at Grandville High School in 2023-24 and 2024-25. In 2023, he also met a young lady named Sidney Ing while attending a Michigan football game. They were each with a group of friends, but everyone went out afterward, they struck up a conversation and hit it off. Now living in Adrian, Mich., and working in sales for Maples City Glass, Teske married Ing on Feb. 23, 2025. Son Jett was born on Jan. 16, 2026 and life is great. "Looking back I'd do some things differently, but I know now what I didn't know six years ago," Teske said. "It was just a bad time to be graduating (because of COVID), and it took the joy out of basketball a little bit. "Just seeing the political part of the NBA played a part, too, but it is what it is. If I had my best friend with me (overseas) or if I had met Sidney earlier, it would have been a different story, because you can make pretty good money after you prove yourself for a year or two. I wish some things would have changed, but I'm very grateful for all the experiences I had." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.