Whitinsville Christian's Vander Baan wins first pro basketball title in Sweden

Soon after Vander Baan graduated from Lafayette in May 2025, his agent called him about the opportunity with Swedish Basketligan, which is the highest tier of Swedish basketball.

Vander Baan signed his rookie overseas contract in July and headed to Boras, known as a textile city and as the rainiest city in Sweden, in late August.

Vander Baan started most of the season and averaged 8.5 points and 7.9 rebounds.

“Last year at Lafayette we ran a motion offense,” Vander Baan said, “and in Sweden, and in Europe, they are big on set plays, so that was a big transition. I did the job on defense like I normally do, but my offense was up and down the entire year. I think I found a better flow toward the end of the year.”

Vander Baan, who averaged 24.2 points his senior season at Whitinsville Christian, was a three-star recruit coming out of high school. He began his college career at Boston College, but, after a coaching change, played limited minutes for the Eagles.

In three seasons at Lafayette, Vander Baan averaged 9.5 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Vander Baan ranks second-all time at Lafayette in career blocks with 191.

Vander Baan was the tallest player on his Boras Basket team.

Whitinsville Christian center Justin Vander Baan shows his form from the line during a game in 2019.

Vander Baan enjoyed living in Boras, where English is widely spoken. He and his teammates ate Swedish meatballs at their Monday lunch spot and he got to explore some nearby countries.

He visited a former Lafayette teammate in Amsterdam and took a day trip to Copenhagen with his American Boras Basket teammate.

The sun sets at 3 p.m. in Boras in the winter.

“A couple months were rainy, grey and dark,” Vander Baan said, “but the last few weeks before I left were bright and sunny.”

Lafayette’s Justin Vander Baan goes to the net over Holy Cross's Will Batchelder and Caleb Kenney during a game in 2023.

Vander Baan’s parents, Jeffrey and Laurie, visited him at Christmas, and his brother Josh and his wife went over in February.

Now that Vander Baan is home, he’s going to take a few days off – “I had a lot of basketball the last nine months,” he said – and maybe play some golf before he returns to basketball training.

Lafayette’s Justin Vander Baan takes a foul shot against Holy Cross during a game in 2023.

Like he does every year, Vander Baan is looking forward to helping out at Whitinsville Christian coach Brady Bajema’s summer camp.

Vander Baan plans to return to Europe next season to play.

“I’m not sure where,” he said. “I will talk to my agent in a few weeks and I hope to sign somewhere by July.

“(Playing in Sweden) was a great experience,” Vander Baan said. “It’s a great country and the team was awesome. There were some ups and downs for the team and personally through the season, but come the end of the season and the playoffs, we played well as a team and had a good amount of success in the finals.”

–Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Whitinsville Christian's Vander Baan wins first pro basketball title