As the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball season came to an end after their loss against Saginaw State University on March 2, one senior was holding on to some big news the day before their finale. Christian Negron, three-time second team All-GLIAC forward and leader for the Lakers was drafted as the 12th overall pick in the first round for the Grises de Humancao in Puerto Rico. 

Negron’s collegiate basketball career started at Loyola University Chicago for his first two years of school, coming from Larkin High School as a four-time All-Conference player. He was a part of the NCAA Final Four team in 2018 at Loyola before he transferred to GVSU. 

Because of COVID-19, Negron had three seasons with the Lakers to accumulate his three second team All-GLIAC honors along with three All-Defensive team accolades and a slew of other career highlights. This season, Negron has averaged 11.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, but the Grises de Humacao knew him well before he was able to build such an impressive resume. 

“In the summer of 2015 I just spent a lot of time there (Puerto Rico) because I was playing for their national team,” Negron said. “That’s kind of how I guess I had built up a reputation in that country, so they kind of know who I am. I had some people reaching out to me from there, just making sure that I put my name in the draft, and then once I did that, I got the call.” 

Just one day before Negron’s last game as a Laker, he opted to withhold the big news from his teammates to keep their heads in the game and make sure they knew he was all in with them. 

“I didn’t really want to tell anybody because I didn’t want them thinking that I had a foot out the door,” Negron said. “I wasn’t thinking about the next step or anything like that. And it’s nice to know how much they cared about my future and how excited they were for me.” 

As exciting as the possible career opportunity is, Negron is still a student at GVSU until the end of this semester and wants to prioritize his degrees first and foremost. Finishing up his undergraduate career with a double major in advertising/public relations and public/nonprofit administration, Negron still has yet to decide if starting with the Grises de Humacao in July is the best choice for him. 

“I told them that I did want to graduate first — that’s a priority for me,” Negron said. “But if I do decide to do it, I would basically have to pack up and leave right after graduation, so it’d be a really quick turnaround. It’s nice to have a job opportunity, like right after college, especially doing what I love. It’s a good league and pays pretty well, it’s competitive, it’s in a great country and all that. But their team is a really veteran group and I’m trying to decide if I’m ready for it.”

Negron wants to be able to play for as long as he can, and Puerto Rico may be a great first step for him since a lot of professional basketball players get their starts in leagues similar to Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). 

“I know we all have to hang it up sometime, but I want to play as long as my body will allow me to,” Negron said. 

Now that his collegiate career is officially over as him and his fellow senior teammates prepare to graduate as well, Negron has made a long list of memories and friends during his time at GVSU. 

“When I look back on it, I look at a lot of the wins that we had — just a lot of good times playing with each other,” Negron said. “And we did have a lot of big wins, so I look back on stuff like that and look at how players continue to grow over the years and the other guys that I’ve played with, watching them become better players and even better men off the court.”

While Negron takes this time off from the sport that he’s loved for the better part of his life thus far to decide whether or not he’ll continue after GVSU, his legacy as an exceptional Laker will be preserved for many years to come in the program’s history.