Northwestern freshman's journey from TikTok star to college basketball player
· Yahoo Sports
Before he ever took a shot with the Wildcats, Northwestern University freshman Jake West already had an audience of 1.6 million followers on TikTok.
"Me and my friends were kind of just joking around one day after school, and it wasn't even on my account. It was with my friends, and they just started to go viral, and I was like, OK, maybe I should make an account and start posting," West said. "I didn't really know it would come to this, but here we are."
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West continued, "A lot of my stuff is, like, kind of quick and natural. I mean you see it. you know, having fun dancing, kind of doing me."
When asked how he found out that West had over 1 million TikTok followers, Wildcats Head Coach Chris Collins said, "My 18-year-old daughter was probably the one who filled me in. She said, 'Dad, you know Jake has, like, 2 million followers? He's kind of a big deal.'"
"Back at home, I would get recognized a lot, just 'cause I was in the area. People knew who I was, but I think out here, I didn't get recognized as much. So, it was kind of cool, but I think now that I'm starting to get more comfortable and playing well, people are starting to recognize me more," West said.
"He wants to be a basketball player first and foremost. And I think the social media thing kind of came from out of nowhere. He's like, 'Hey, I guess I'll roll with it now, but I want to be a baller,'" Collins said.
"I want to stick with basketball. Basketball is my first love. Growing up, that's all I wanted to do was play basketball. And, like I said, that social media stuff kind of just came as a joke, and on the side, naturally. And I definitely didn't feel like I would get to this point, you know, having millions of followers, but I think it's cool, 'cause I get to show that I'm a basketball player as well, and what I like to do. And I think I've been able to build such a cool fan base because I had different avenues in my life that people like to see," West said.