A number of former Grand Valley State men's basketball players have continued their careers after leaving the Laker program, succeeding in professional leagues here in Michigan and also across the world.
 
Perhaps the most noteworthy is former GVSU great Callistus Eziukwu, who will be inducted into the Grand Valley State Hall of Fame this October. The Laker center, known to fans as 'Bean', will play in Poland for the upcoming season after competing in Italy and Greece last year.
 
Eziukwu played 14 games for Virtus Roma (Italy) in 2013-14 before joining A.G.O. Rethymno Aegean (Greece) for another 14 games. During his time with AGOR, Bean  averaged 8.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. His 1.3 blocked shots per contest led the team; that should come as no surprise to Laker faithful, as Eziukwu holds the GVSU and GLIAC record for career blocked shots (329).
 
Bean shot 56.3 percent from the field last season, finishing second on AGOR in rebounds and third in steals per game (1.0). He played 22.9 minutes per game, the fourth-highest figure on the team.
 
Sharpshooter Jason Jamerson, Eziukwu's former running mate, played briefly in Morocco last season before returning home. In the 2012-13 season, Jamerson averaged a team-high 14.0 points per game for Finke Baskets Paderborn in Germany. He shot 38.7 percent from three-point range and the GVSU career three-point leader knocked down 46 triples that season. Jamerson also averaged 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
 
High-flying Nick Freer played with Eziukwu and Jamerson during the incredible 2007-08 season when the Lakers won 36 straight games to start the season and finished with a 36-1 record. After playing with teams in Australia and Germany, Freer averaged 33.5 minutes per game in 11 games with Surrey United of the British Basketball League.
 
Freer had a great 11-game run with Surrey, averaging 16.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. He shot 49.2 percent from the floor and made 82.1 percent of his free throws. In the final game of the season - a 94-81 loss to Glasgow - Freer poured in a game-high 27 points, making 11 of 21 field goals.
 
He also played 15 games for the London Lions last season, averaging 22.3 minutes per game in 15 contests. Freer put up averages of 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting 55.7 percent from the field and 72.2 percent at the charity stripe.
 
A pair of recent GVSU teammates played last season in Australia and thrived overseas. Tyrone Lee was dominant during his season with the NW Tasmania Thunder in the Australia State League. The former Laker forward averaged a double-double, putting up season averages of 19.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest. Lee shot 52.3 percent from the field, while also averaging 2.3 assists and 1.0 block per game for NW Tasmania, which went 11-4.
 
Lee - who also played briefly in Latvia last season - tallied a team-high 24 points in his second game, an 85-83 victory over the Nunawading Sectres. Against the Mount Gambier Pioneers midway through the season, Lee posted a season-best 30 points to go with 13 rebounds in an 98-89 win.
 
That started a terrific stretch for Lee, which was immediately followed by 29 points and nine boards in a 98-82 victory over BA Centre of Excellence, 26 points and 18 rebounds in a 92-88 win over the Hobart Chargers, and another double-double (20 points, 10 boards) in a 106-80 blowout of the Knox Raiders.
 
Also playing in Australia, four-year GVSU starting point guard Breland Hogan led the Bundaberg Bulls by tallying a team-best 23.9 points per game. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.8 steals per contest. Hogan did a good number of damage beyond the arc, making 40.0 percent (30-of-75) of his three-point attempts, while continuing his strong free throw shooting from his days in Allendale. He shot 88.1 percent at the charity stripe last season.
 
Hogan made an immediate impression, knocking down 7-of-11 three-pointers and scoring a game-high 35 points in his first game with the Bulls. He scored 29 points in consecutive victories over the Brisbane Capitals, combining to drain 11 three-pointers in the two wins. The next game, Hogan totaled 27 points and six triples in a victory over the Toowoomba Mountaineers.
 
In consecutive 31-point outbursts later in the season, he made just one three-pointer in one game (but went 14-of-29 overall from the field and pulled down nine boards) and followed up by going 10-of-10 at the free throw line in a 90-89 victory over the Ipswich Force.
 
The all-time steals leader in Grand Valley State history, Jason Boucher has continued his overseas career despite last playing for the Lakers in 2002. He collected a school-record 242 steals and dished out 514 assists (third-most in GVSU history) from 1999 to 2002. Boucher played in 2013-14 for the Rattelsdorf Independents, but season stats were unavailable.
 
He has played for a number of teams in Germany, including Rattelsdorf and the Dresden Titans, where Boucher spent the 2012-13 season. He was the Titans leading scorer at 19.0 points per game. Boucher also was the team leader in minutes per game (27.4), made three-pointers (64), made free throws (84), free throw percentage (83.2), and steals per game (1.8) that season.
 
A trio of recent Lakers helped the Grand Rapids Fusion win the 2014 International Basketball Association title, as Pete Trammell, Nick Waddell, and Rob Woodson were part of the Fusion championship victory. The win was even more impressive considering that the Fusion was in its first year of existence in the IBA, the 15-team semi-professional league that has several teams throughout the Midwest, but even spans as far as California.
 
Trammell was a member of the 2007-08 Elite Eight team and has also played overseas for Uusimaa Jarvenpaa in Finland, as well as locally for the Lake Michigan Admirals and the Midwest Magic.
 
Waddell played a pair of seasons (2010-11, 2011-12) for the Lakers, while Woodson completed his GVSU career by being named to the All-GLIAC Second Team in March 2014.