Ore Arogundade, a 2014 Saint Viator alumnus and former Lions basketball player, currently plays basketball at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. In his second year playing basketball at Drake, Arogundade reflects on his basketball career and offers advice to this year’s varsity team.

Arogundade explains the difference between high school basketball and college basketball.

“Well, in college people are more athletic, so, some things I could get away with in high school [because of my athleticism], I can’t get away with it in college,” said Arogundade. But overall just the pace of the game and physicality is different.”

Saint Viator taught Arogundade numerous lessons but the most important lesson he learned was sharing the ball and being a team player.

“I never could have broken the records I did at Viator if it wasn’t for my teammates,” said Arogundade.

Arogundade said his favorite memory from playing basketball at Saint Viator was breaking the scoring record for individual points. Another favorite memory of his was winning three straight regional titles.

However, his best memory of playing basketball at Saint Viator was his sophomore year.

“That 2011-2012 team was the best team in Viator history,” said Arogundade. “It wasn’t the most talented team, but it was the best. Going undefeated at home, having the most wins in school history, and only losing 3 or 4 games that year with that team was special. But the best memory of all was being coached by Mike Howland, Quinn Hayes and Jason Kuffel, all guys who played at Viator who all believed in me and most importantly the ‘name’ of the basketball program. When I say ‘name’ everyone knew who Viator was when it came time to play, they knew it would be a tough game. They knew Viator would be a force to be reckoned with.”

Arogundade’s advice to this year’s varsity team is to enjoy it.

“Seniors especially, don’t take this for granted,” said Arogundade. “Playing at Viator was some of the best times in my life. Also, have an edge—like a swagger—on the court. Always believe that no matter who you play ranked or unranked, they have to go through VIATOR.”

The esteemed team Arogundade had his senior year is something he thinks about a lot.

“I watch old videos of my senior year at Viator,” said Arogundade. “A lot of good things happened that year. Like I said, nothing would have been possible if it wasn’t for my teammates, the coaching staff, the athletic directors and the Viator fans. I owe it all to them.”