Timothy Christian athletic director Jack LeGrand remembers when his nephew would tag along to watch the IHSA boys state basketball finals each year in Peoria.

His nephew happens to be Ben Vander Wal, who recently wrapped up one of the greatest boys basketball careers in Timothy Christian High School program history.

“Ben would go with us to Peoria,” LeGrand said. “It was always his dream to get to play on the floor at state.”

That dream was realized in 2020 when the Trojans, under the direction of coach Scott Plaisier, qualified for the Class 2A state finals only to have the carpet pulled from under them when the rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the tournament, literally with the team in Peoria readying to live out what so few Illinois high school basketball players get to.

“When Timothy achieved that opportunity only to be cut short by COVID and was told to go home, it was devastating,” said LeGrand, who noted the photo in this story of him and Vander Wal on the Peoria Civic Center Carver Arena floor was taken at the behest of Vander Wal’s mother at the end of a practice, “in case things were shut down,” she told LeGrand.

How Vander Wal responded to the brass-knuckle gut punch speaks to the overarching blueprint of why he has been so successful — with basketball skill not coming close to telling the true story of why this young man has an immensely bright future.

“I learned to just trust. Trust in God,” he said. “As I have gone through my whole high school career and my career as a student at Timothy, I trust God’s plan. An example would be the 2020 canceled state tournament. It was one of the lowest points of my basketball career. We were on such a high, going downstate for the first time in 40 years achieving things no team had done since the 80s. It was a historic run and we could see the finish line. Unfortunately, it got ripped out of our hands before we even had a chance to play.  It took a lot of time to get over that, and I am still not completely over that state run. It will eat at me forever, but I learned God’s plan is much greater than our plan. Sometimes you don’t understand it, but you put faith in Him. It’s something I have taken to heart.”

Vander Wal’s basketball exploits are self-explanatory. He was the Metro Suburban Blue player of the year this past season, averaging more than 26 points per game and 10 rebounds and earned Class 2A all-state honors. But again, Ben Vander Wal the person draws even greater accolades than Ben Vander Wal the basketball player headed to Division I Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina next season on scholarship.

26 Points per Game

10 Rebounds per Game

2.2 Assists per Game

2.4 Steals per Game

2.1 blocks per game

“How much paper do you have to write on?” Plaisier replied when asked to describe the affable and well-spoken Vander Wal as a person. “As a young man, he’s a person of unbelievably high character. He holds very strong to his convictions. Ben is very mature in his faith. He knows The Lord is his Savior and he loves the fact he is a child of God and is willing to share his excitement about his faith with others. Ben is as good a young man as you will find. He epitomizes the foundation and the mission statement of Timothy Christian. Ben doesn’t only do that by the things he says, but by the way he lives his life.”

LeGrand remembers back to 2013 when he was still the head boys basketball coach at Timothy at a time when Connor Vander Brug (who went on to play at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan) was ruling the roost as yet another Timothy boys hoops standout. Vander Brug, LeGrand recalled, reached out to a young Vander Wal and gave him a signed wristband at a game.

“Ben never forgot that gesture and has given back to the Timothy Christian community as well,” LeGrand said. “It is one of the best things about Timothy Christian. When the high school athletes have a connection with the younger kids, it is very rewarding.”

LeGrand has had a ringside seat in Vander Wal’s development both as a family member (the family’s interesting and extensive Timothy lineage is fully chronicled in the accompanying Reflector story on Vander Wal’s younger sister, Abby) and as a school administrator with a deep background in the sport.

“I am incredibly proud of the Christian man Ben has become and is still developing into at this time,” he said. “It is a blessing to me that Ben and I have a close relationship. Besides watching him put in so much work on his game, we have always talked about the other parts of becoming a leader and trying to become a man of integrity at all times. It has been incredibly rewarding watching Ben mature into a strong man of God.”

LeGrand recalls that on the night of what turned out to be Vander Wal’s last Timothy game (Class 2A regional championship game), some family went out to eat.

“Ben shared a devotional from that morning about handling disappointments,” he said. “He was processing all that information from a tough loss, but still working spiritually on how to handle things in the best way possible and learning from the word of God.”

Vander Wal, who lauded the efforts of Plaisier, LeGrand and Timothy Christian Schools Superintendent Matt Davidson (and his Wednesday morning Bible studies) in his development, said being the player every other team knew they had to stop this season was something he didn’t mind.

“It was a challenge I was thrilled to take on each and every game,” he said. “Whatever it takes for the team to win is what I tried to do. Some games I might have been needed to score 30 points and in others I was needed to facilitate more, create and get more shots for my teammates. As the season went on, we would feel it out and see what we needed that day and what we needed to do for the team to win. If I scored 30 and we lost, you wouldn’t find a happy Ben Vander Wal in the locker room. If I score 15 and we win, you will find a much happier Ben Vander Wal. It was all about winning for our team. My goal was to come in and make the biggest impact on winning as I possibly could.”

Vander Wal said his major improvements this year stretched far beyond the court. “I learned the importance of not only improving myself as a basketball player, but improving myself as a man of God and who you are as a person. The emphasis was not only on being a better basketball player and winning basketball games, but really becoming the man of God He calls us to be.”

So how does Vander Wal want to be remembered at Timothy Christian?

“It’s funny you ask that. I get asked that a lot,” he said. “The biggest thing is I hope I am remembered for being a role model for kids and for having a positive influence on everybody I was able to come in contact with and show God’s love. God wants us to love everybody. If you come across to people as cocky and arrogant, that’s not who God wants us to be. Just because I am going to play at the (NCAA) Division I level doesn’t mean I am better than the next person, so I shouldn’t act that way.”

And it’s an opportunity Vander Wal plans on making the most of at Furman.

“I can’t put it into words what it means to be able to play Division I basketball at Furman,” he said. “It’s something I dreamed of my whole life. Every kid wants to be a Division I athlete. I had to put my trust in God. For a while, I didn’t have any offers. I put in the work and got to a point in my mind and others where I thought I deserved to be getting offers, but they weren’t coming. Again, I learned to trust God has a plan and he is going to get me to the right place. By June and July (of last year) I had 15 Division I offers. Not very many people get to have this opportunity. I want to take advantage of it and use it the best I can. I am so thankful for the chance the Furman coaches gave me and their trust in me, and I am going to keep working hard and getting better and see how far I
can go.”