Josiah De La Cerda (203-F, college: OUAZ) is a 203cm forward from Fresno, California playing his rookie season in Germany with Regionalliga team Roth Energie Giessen Pointers currently averaging 19,6ppg and 6,3rpg.. He began his basketball career at Clovis West High School. He then played at Bellevue University (NAIA) averaging 3.3ppg, 1.7rpg and then played Yuba College (JUCO averaging 9.5ppg, 3.9rpg, FGP: 58.2%, 3PT: 36.7%, FT: 72.5%. He then played 3 years and 81 games for Ottawa University, AZ (NAIA) averaging 17.0ppg, 7.0rpg, 1.8apg, FGP: 60.0%, 3PT: 38.2%, FT: 59.5% and in his second season averaged 17.2ppg, 7.1rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 55.0%, 3PT: 36.6%, FT: 70.6% and in his last season averaged 18.0ppg, 7.1rpg, 1.9apg, 1.1bpg, FGP: 60.1%, 3PT: 47.6%, FT: 76.5%. He spoke to germanhoops.com after exploding for 40 points against the Bona Baskets Limburg.

Thanks Josiah for talking to germanhoops.com. Your playing your rookie season overseas in Germany with the ROTH Energie Giessen Pointers (Germany-Regionalliga). What kind of an experience has it been for you and what have you enjoyed most about living in Germany?

I honestly don’t know where to begin. To still be playing the game I love, that I’ve given my all to for well over 15 years is my dream come true moment in life. The experience has been very tough and grueling both physically and mentally with challenges I haven’t faced before. Being in an environment where people and the way of living is very different and there’s a language barrier makes things a challenge. For me though, I enjoy hardships because they mold you and I’ve truly enjoyed my time in Gießen. My experience in the city and from the fans and team aspect has been amazing. They have embraced me in the organization my teammates and the fans and I truly have pride to represent the pointers. I enjoy the small moments around my team and coach and the times off the court with my close friends. The culture is rich and I enjoy the most getting to adapt and fit in to cultural nuances of Germany.

The Giessen Pointers are having a very good season. What do you feel has been the secret to the success?

Our team has faced many things this season and you’re right as far as many are concerned we’ve been successful. The thing that makes this team work so well is the collection of guys we have. From top to bottom, the team is made up of great guys, good human beings that show up to work when the time comes. We as a team have bought in to the things that coach wants us to do and we play as hard as we can every time we step on the court every weekend. I think the thing that’s helped us the most down the latter part of the year is being battle tested through the season and learning from those things. We play good defense and find our spots to best score the ball on offense. Lastly, I feel we all have the burning desire to win the league and seek promotion and it’s pushed our team to new heights.

What has it been like being teammates with American Elijah Allen.He was actually already retired and came back. Has he been a mentor for you?

Elijah like I said previously about every person on our team is a great human being first. He’s positive coming in every day and is a true professional that puts the team first all the time. His impact on me over the course of my rookie year is something that has gotten me through most of the difficult points of our season. He’s helped me the most in just coaching me on how to interact with others like my teammates and my coaches and how to put myself in the best positions for my whole team to succeed. We’ve had many conversations as well outside of basketball about being a pro and seeing every side of being a pro and also just on the things I can do to take my game to the next level. Things like always sprinting the floor and sealing, going for every rebound, picking my spots, all things that have been crucial to my success this season. He truly has passed the torch along to me and tells me every day that I’m up next on the path to being great and that means everything to me to have someone of his caliber with so much belief in me.

How big is the chip on your shoulder? You have had to pay your dues everywhere and are doing it again in the German Regionalliga. How big is your desire to keep having to prove yourself and just prove people wrong?

For me, I wouldn’t necessarily say I have a chip on my shoulder at this point when it comes to playing. Over the past year I’ve reached a new state of peace in my life and what drives me is my love for the game and desire to make my family proud. People like my mom and dad, my 4 siblings, my grandparents, and close friends and former teammates I just strive to play for them. That’s not to say that I don’t have desire to be the best player I can be and reach my goals and be successful but I’ve realized that I’m not defined so much by basketball but by my faith in Jesus Christ and his undying love for me. So I truly play for an audience of 1 and I know that above all else I have family and friends that love me. I am grateful for an organization to give me a chance and I’m also dedicated to being the best I can for all the Pointer faithful.

Your putting up very good stats. You picked up your game in 2024. What has been your secret to being able to adjust so well to overseas ball?

To be very honest, the transition to playing overseas at the beginning of the season was difficult for me. I mainly had a hard time finding out where I was supposed to be on the court and making the right reads. I was also struggling with a major injury and being healthier has also played a big role in being able to elevate my play in the late half of the season. I’d attribute a lot of being able to adjust to my coaches and teammates. They’ve put their trust in me and my ability to make plays and I’ve learned a lot just be watching the things my teammates do on the floor. We have a lot of experienced guys and being able to take a small piece from everyone’s game has been the key to my success. It’s also helped that me and Coach Kostic have developed a great relationship over the time here. We have had many conversations about his belief in me as a player and he’s really pushed me to limits I wasn’t sure I could reach as a player.

Let´s talk about your game. You’re a 203cm forward and are the tallest on the team. Is that strange for you or was that also the case in the NAIA and JUCO?

It’s been standard on any team I’ve played on for me to be the tallest player on my team. When I was in college it was more normal for me to play center because the guys playing center weren’t the traditional seven footers you see in division one. I would consider myself more of a power forward because I have the ability to shoot, dribble, and post up.

If you had to compare your game to an NBA player who would best fit the description? You can score and rebound very well. What other strengths does your game have?

My NBA player comparison that I would say is Karl-Anthony Towns. I compare our games because he notably plays the 4 now for the Timberwolves and some in college at Kentucky. He’s a great pick and pop shooter and spot up jump shooter. He’s also usually putting it on the floor for two or three dribbles and posting up. These are all things I think my game displays. When it comes to my strengths that I feel I have outside of scoring I think I’m a pretty good passer out of doubles which I’ve seen for the past 4 years and also feel I’m a very good shooter. I think another strength is my floater and touch around the rim which I’ve repped out for most of my life. Lastly I’d say that I feel I do a good job of playing defense without fouling. On any given night I’m able to play long stretches because of my solid defense without picking up more than 2 fouls a game or struggling with foul trouble.

What kind of a defender are you now and what kind of defender do you still want to become?

This is a perfect question based on the end of my answer to the last one. In my opinion, I would say I’m a very solid defender and there is definitely a lot of room for me to improve. I wouldn’t say that I’m completely shutting people out from scoring the ball but I think a key part to being a good defender is to play solid without fouling. I’ve done a good job of that over the years and rarely have had to sit in any games or struggled with foul trouble. This year in particular I feel I’ve experienced a new style of defense and have done a good amount of switching onto guards without it being a mismatch for me. There are two main things that I would want to improve on in terms of being the defender I want to be. I would say being more of a shot blocker at the rim or just point of attack and then being a more instinctual help side defender. I think that comes with more physical quickness and ability and also more knowledge of the game. I think sometimes the key to being a good defender is being a student of defense the same as you would study offense.

On what areas of your game are you working on most so you can continue to improve your game?

The areas I want to work on the most in my game which I think would make me more dangerous all around is a bit of a midrange game. I grew up taking layups and threes because for me it’s the most efficient two shot types in the game. But the midrange can be effective I believe if you develop it and use it in the right situations. It would improve my game a lot if I were to get pushed off of certain spots. The next thing would be to improve finishing with both hands which I feel I can do but it’s usually default for me to finish with my right hand in most instances. My footwork is another thing I feel I can get better at and want to improve because it would allow for more counter moves.

You began your college career at Bellevue University (NAIA)playing 27 games averaging 3.3ppg, 1.7rpg. Y Bellevue University (NAIA): 27 games: 3.3ppg, 1.7rpg. You only averaged 7,7 minutes per game. How tough was this time and what did you learn about yourself?

Thinking back on that time period now it is honestly one part of the journey that I hate and love the most. It was a tough time for sure mentally because as a basketball player I felt like my confidence was shot down. This was also the first time in my career that I had felt unprepared. I was young and pretty naive as to how higher levels of basketball were and for that it was even harder on me in that time. I think it was good in the fact that I was thrown into the fire a little bit and it made me have to adapt and learn things very fast. The good thing about it was that I had two veteran big men playing in front of me and some other very experienced players that I learned a lot from. I learned a lot of the nuances to scoring all around and defending from these guys and it’s translated specifically to how I play today. All in all it taught me the importance of sticking out a commitment you make to a team and to be patient and wait for your time to come. It also taught me how important it is to be prepared for any situation you may have to adapt to. I’m really just happy that I had that experience that I can in turn give back to young players who deal with the same things.

You played 1 NCAA game against South Dakota and played 16 minutes scoring 6 points. You played against future NBA player Stanley Umude. What memories do you have of this game?

So this game obviously came back in my first year of college so not the most vivid memories I would say but one thing I could say was that the level of athleticism of the guys playing at that level was something that jumped out to me right away. Another major thing the division 1 athletes have is such good footwork which helps make the game easier for them. I have played in many division 1 games over the years and the one thing I would say from that game and many of the other ones is the crowd is sometimes a major factor in the game. Now I have adapted to large crowds and noise and pressure but it for sure has an impact when you have thousands of fans screaming at you. Last thing I will say is that the six points I had in that game were probably the hardest 6 points I’ve ever scored.

You then played 1 year at Yuba College (JUCO) playing 29 games averaging 9.5ppg, 3.9rpg, FGP: 58.2%, 3PT: 36.7%, FT: 72.5%. All guys I interview that played JUCO say it was tough but an experience they would of never traded in for anything. How was it for you?

Juco was probably one of the best things I’ve experienced in my life. I say this because juco life is very difficult but it’s tough for all the right reasons and it’s a situation where you go as far as you push yourself. I came into juco fresh off of my hardest season in my career and I was to put it most simply at one of the lowest moments of my life. It’s always hard when you’re playing at a certain level like naia or for some people division 1 to come back and play juco. You feel that weight of kind of being a failure. But juco is filled with some amazing players that often go on to play at higher levels and usually turn pro. I also had the luxury in juco of being on a very good team that went to the sweet 16 of the state playoffs and was able to play with one of my best friends that I went to high school with. Juco was very pivotal for me in just showing what happens when you pour time into yourself and you have a support system that believes in you. Coach Cornelius and the staff were the first coaches I truly felt believed in me and the potential I had as a player. That was the most important thing that led to my success at that time. I would tell any kid coming up in the basketball scene to never be ashamed of going juco it will wind up being one of the best decisions you will ever make.

How important was head coach Doug Cornelius for your Juco year? How did he make you a better player?

Coach corn was so important in that year like I said before he was the first coach to truly believe in me. It works wonders for your confidence when you have a person who pulls for you like he did and does everything in his power to see you play at the level you want to. Coach was also a great motivator and not in the way of him yelling and doing anything drastic but did a great job of motivating you while also staying calm. This is so important In juco because it is hard mentally and sometimes you feel like giving up so a coach that keeps you going in a positive fashion is something that changes everything. I’d say coach corn is by far the best junior college coach in California and his resume shows it. He has a knack for getting guys to 4 years and like I said turning a lot of them pro. Can’t stress how thankful I am to have had him as part of my journey.

You then played at Ottawa University, AZ (NAIA) from 2020-2023 playing 81 games. You were so consistent averaging 17,0ppg and 7,0rpg in those 3 years. How did your game grow there?

My time at Ottawa was truly something special from the second I stepped on campus. I can talk for hours about how my life changed while being there. By the time I played in my first game there, my game was tailor made to reach the heights it did while I was there. My game elevated a lot because I was able to spend hours in the gym and had unlimited access to a great training facility and weight room. I gained probably 10 to 15 pounds of muscle, a lot of which I didn’t have when I first started college. The second go around at NAIA, I felt fully prepared and after the first experience in college and the time I spent after juco during Covid, I was truly grateful to have the opportunity to play at a high level again. The biggest thing that helped me play at such a high level was my teammates and coaches and how easy they made the game for me. Our coaches worked so many hours daily going through film and showing us things that made it easy to improve and build good habits. Most notably, I feel our team trained our minds daily and learned the importance of being mentally tough and that has helped my game so much. By the time I left there, I was able to create a legacy I can be proud of and make so many lifelong friendships and connections. I can truly say for the first time in my life after being there that I gave everything that I had and have no regrets.

You won 2 GSAC titles. Which one was sweeter?

Those two titles were equally as sweet to me for different reasons. I have to preface this by saying we won two gsac titles in our first two years ever playing in the conference tournament so that in itself was very special. The first one was special because we shocked a lot of people by winning the championship and I personally hit two free throws to win the game so that was major for the trajectory of my career and life. The feeling of winning the first one is so great because it’s pure euphoria. All of the work you put into your career culminating into one moment makes you feel like it’s worth it. That first team was also my favorite team I’ve ever been on. But when it comes to the second one, it’s always amazing when you’re sitting on the mountain top and you can defend it. The second one felt so good because as a team we were able to put a lot of the talk about our first win to rest. When you win one in such a controversial way as we did in the first championship it comes with a lot of hate and a lot of scrutiny. The feeling of winning the second one was like being on top of the world. The best part of it all and I always say it is when you win something significant like a league title at any level, it’s such a team accomplishment. No one will remember who scored the most or did the most for the team but will always remember that team as a whole; all 15 guys that each had a major part to play in it. To all my guys on those two teams and coaches involved shoutout to you all.

You left the school as it´s alltime-leading scorer. What does this achievement mean to you?

This meant everything to me and was the byproduct of the years of work I had put in. It was a time in my life that I accomplished something I could truly be proud of and it’s something I never even dreamed of accomplishing. I’m still not sure if it has even set in how big of a deal that is to be the all time leading scorer anywhere but for me it goes to show how much more I really want to accomplish in my career. I truly want to go down as the best player to be in any organization I play for but more than that, I want to be someone who makes an impact on others lives in a positive way. Although accomplishments are great, people will remember the person you are and that will outshine anything else you’re able to do. Mostly I can say I’m grateful I was able to have such an accolade and be remembered as a great basketball player in the short history of Ottawa.

You reached the NAIA final 4 losing 73-72 to Idaho College scoring 28 points and getting 10 rebounds. Is this a game that you will remember well in 10 years?

That final 4 game is probably one game in my career that I will never forget. So many different things play a part in why that game was so special to me and to my team. It makes me smile to think about it now because the game was truly a testament to who my team was up until the last second we played in that game. At first, it was hard to even watch the game back after it finished. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the game for about 2 to 3 months after. Coach Keeley has told this story many times but I want to retell it for the sake of this interview and those who haven’t heard it. In the middle of last years season, our team was in the middle of a little slump and we had to sit back and reevaluate where we wanted our season to go. We had a team meeting where all of us were honest about what we wanted out of the season and the coaches were brutally honest about what we needed to do to achieve our goals. A lot of us players had to sacrifice a lot of things; our egos, playing time, shots, etc. My teammate McKay Bundy in the meeting said his goal for the season was to play as long as we could as a team. This team was a real family and we loved each other like brothers and this drove the rest of our season. Fast forward to this game in the final 4 of the national tournament and the whole game we are losing. Down as much as 15 and 20 at points in the game but near the end we made a full comeback and it ended up being something like a 2 or 3 point game and we lose at the end after fighting so hard and giving every last ounce of effort we have. We lost by 1 point for a chance at the national championship so you can only imagine how emotional that is; for most of us the last game of our career. All of us are in the locker room as a team and we’re devastated and everyone in that locker room is crying. Coach is thinking of how to address us and McKay says “coach, we almost did it, we almost played for as long as we could.” Such a powerful thing epitomized how tight knit our family was. That’s what I’ll remember most from that game.

How did head coach Matt Keeley groom and prepare you best for a professional career?

Coach Keeley helped to prepare me just by being who he is as a person. He’s one person I’ve met that, no matter what the situation is or what he’s going through in life, is optimistic about what’s to come. He’s always super energetic and sees everyday as a new opportunity for new challenges and new breakthroughs. This has helped me in my professional life to take everything in stride and be ready for every challenge that life throws at me. He taught me the importance of staying even keel mentally and being grateful for any challenge that comes my way. Lastly, he taught me the importance of trying to improve little by little everyday and how over the long run, it can lead to truly special things in life.

Who won a 1-1 in practice you or Devin Collins?

To be real honest, there wasn’t really a time when me and Dev actually played one on one after practice. We would mainly stick to just getting shots up together if anything. But when we happened to be matched up in practice it was always a great battle and tough task. Dev truly pushed me to be better, to play stronger, and to be detail oriented when playing. This is because in practice if you don’t box him out, he’s getting a rebound or if you don’t sprint back he’s outrunning you for a layup. He’s also very strong and physical player so you have to use ball security when scoring and can’t shy away from contact. All in all there’s really not too many tougher bigs I’ve matched up with.

Who was the toughest player that you ever faced on the court that reached the NBA?

Jalen Green. He was by far the toughest person that I have played against that is now in the nba. The crazy part about it was that when we played each other he wasn’t even at his peak. I had faced him twice when I was a senior in high school in two separate tournaments. The first game we beat his team at our home tournament in which he played well but the second game he completely took over the game and had well over 40 points. Me and friends of mine who played in that game have laughed in recent years because he was showing then a lot of what he does now with an insane handle and athleticism.

Please name your 5 best teammates of all-time?

Naming just 5 of my best teammates is so hard because I’ve played with very talented guys and also some teammates that I have a genuine brotherhood and friendship with to this day. I got to say my best teammates came on my Ottawa teams my last 3 years. All of those dudes are my brothers forever and I have to shout all of them out as my favorite teammates. For the top 5 I’m going to have to say Devin Collins, Kolten Hitt, Kameron Warrens, Alex Villi, and Maxwell Moses. Devin and Kolt probably two of the hardest working teammates I’ve ever had and they taught me what it was like to put your body on the line for your teammates and just to come in everyday and give it your all at practice or in a game. Me and Alex were roommates last year and created an even deeper bond than what we had while we played together in high school. Alex is probably one of the most calm relaxed and level headed people I know and a true selfless person. Kam and Max were two of my favorite just individual people off the court. The two of them are very similar to me in personality and we had many memories that’ll last a long time. These two have also been two of my biggest supporters in my journey to this day.

Please name your personal NBA Mount Rushmore of past or present heads?

My personal Mount Rushmore consists of mainly new generation players you can say but it’s all players I personally watched and feel changed the game for me and many others. On my Rushmore, I’m putting Lebron, Kobe, Steph, and KD. Kobe was the first player I really grew up watching when I was around 7 or 8 years old. He also has one of the most lasting effects on my game now because of me just being out in the driveway after watching Kobe highlights and working on my game. KD was so important to me as a player because he’s my favorite player of all time and he is probably the best player to ever play for my favorite team. I also tried to model a lot of my game after his when I was young just in terms of being a tall player who can score in many ways.

Who is your GOAT?

My goat is Lebron James for me he does it all and I grew up watching him play almost every game. For me he’s the most complete basketball player and if there was a player you wanted to make as a prototype for a basketball player it would be Lebron. His career he has every accolade and achievement to prove and show why he is the goat player. Leading scorer in the nba all time, multiple finals wins, and mvps you can argue that he deserved more. To do that with all the pressure he had on him coming into the league and end up being the best player in the nba for 20 years makes him my goat.

Did you see the sequel to the classic coming to America? Shouldn´t they have left it alone?

I haven’t seen the sequel to the movie but in my experience every sequel of a movie that was really good has tended to be pretty bad. Some movies are better left as a singular movie because there’s no good way to spin off of the first movie.

Thanks Josiah for the chat.