Chad Posthumus

Chad Posthumus (born February 12, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player who currently plays for the London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). He played college basketball with UBC, Howard College, and Morehead State.

High school career

Posthumus attended River East Collegiate, a high school located in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. He was considered one of the top high school basketball players in the country as a senior, averaging 39 points, 25 rebounds, and 7 blocks. His career-high with River East was a 69-point performance. Through his high school years, Posthumus led his team to two provincial quarterfinals and was named a provincial All-Star in his final two seasons with the Kodiaks. Along with basketball, he also competed with River East's football, soccer, and hockey teams.^[1]

Collegiate career

Posthumus played with the Thunderbirds of the University of British Columbia for his freshman college basketball season. In a total of 16 games played, he averaged only 1.7 points and 2.8 rebounds. Nevertheless, his team finished the season with a 25–3 record and put together a 13-game winning streak as well. Posthumus did not play basketball in his true sophomore season and would end up transferring to Howard College in Big Spring, Texas in the United States for the following year. At Howard, the center appeared in 24 contest and averaged 4.0 points and 3.2 rebounds. He shot .570 on field goals but only .690 from the free throw line. The Hawks finished the season with a 23–8 record. Posthumus then transferred to Morehead State, who had a NCAA Division I basketball program, as a redshirt junior. He played in all 33 of the Eagles' games and averaged 7.5 points and 6.8 rebounds. Posthumus also recorded two double-doubles and had career-highs of 19 points and 19 rebounds against Oakland and SIU Edwardsville respectively.^[1] Posthumus returned to Morehead State for his final season and averaged 9.6 points off 51% shooting. His 10.9 rebounds per game was the second-highest in the nation and he posted 10 double-doubles. Posthumus earned College Sports Madness All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) honors and gained fame back in Canada.^[2] He finished his stint with the Japanese team averaging 10.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.

Professional career

Over the summer after his graduation, Posthumus participated in the Chicago Bulls at the NBA Summer League. On August 1, 2014, Posthumus signed his first professional contract with Levanga Hokkaido of the Japan Basketball League (JBL). Morehead State head coach Sean Woods said, "The pro game is played at a very fast pace, but I'm confident Chad will make the necessary adjustments."^[2] Posthumus made his pro debut on October 11, 2014, against the Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins, scoring 16 points and posting 13 rebounds. On November 23 and 24, in games vs the Tsukuba Robots, he recorded back-to-back double-doubles, grabbing a season-high 15 rebounds in the first contest.^[3]

On January 9, 2015, Posthumus inked with the Mississauga Power of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL).^[4] He debuted with the Power by scoring 34 points and posting 22 rebounds. In all three of his games, Posthumus put up double-doubles, but he failed to lead his team to any wins.^[3]

Posthumus signed with Argentino de Junín of the Liga Nacional de Básquet in Argentina for the remainder of the season. He could not manage to record over 10 rebounds in any of his 11 games and averaged 9.7 points and 4.9 boards. Posthumus grew unhappy with the environment in the league and complained about the violence at away games. He said, "They wanted me to play an entirely different game that as a big guy, I wasn't used to. It was intense there. In South America after the games if you were the away team and won the game, they'd have guys with assault rifles and riot shields escorting you out of the gym. It was insane. People were allowed to smoke in the gym. The gym stunk of smoke and marijuana. It was a whole different experience."^[5] Due to these conditions, Posthumus regretted leaving the Mississauga Power.

On September 3, 2015, he signed with the London Lightning and made a return to the NBL Canada. He would play under former Power head coach Kyle Julius, who left the Power after the organization folded. Julius commented on Posthumus, "He has great character and work ethic."^[5]

Personal life

As a redshirt sophomore, while attending Howard College, Posthumus was named an Academic All-American and a member of the Dean's List. He also earned a 4.0 grade point average (GPA).^[1]

References