It is always interesting for me to see how many connections I have with a player. With some guys, I just interview them and that’s it. There is no connection. With other guys there may be just 1 connection for example that we come from the same state or something. With other players, the connection may be more intense. One player from the way past that I had a connection with was Chris Rojik. The most obvious connection is that were from Boston and both adore the Celtics. Another connection we have is that he played his last pro season in the Frankfurt Skyliners organization one I have been covering for more than 20 years. Another connection was that I remember observing him play in a pre season tournament almost 20 years ago in Rhondorf in 2006. 4 teams competed then with Rhondorf with Rojik, the Frankfurt Skyliners that had a great roster that season with guys like Travon Bryant, Eric Chadfield and George Reese, but no chemistry that totally underachieved, the Telekom Baskets Bonn that had amazing character guys like Jason Conley and John Bowler and the Rhein Stars Cologne that had top player Demond Mallet that had already won a BBL title with Bamberg in 2005 and 2 years later would win the ULEB Cup with Ricky Rubio and the beast Marcin Gortat who had began with basketball very late and only 1 year later would commence a 13 year NBA career something that not many could have predicted in 2006 except for maybe Stephan Baeck. “I remember Marcin was young, tall, skinny and athletic. He obviously became a great player but at the time I didn’t think he was going to play in the NBA”, stated Chris Rojik. In 2006 Rojik was a top second Bundesliga player coming off a 17/9 season and would have a few more potent years ahead of him. He would go on to play 13 pro seasons in Germany.

Christopher Rojik (200-F-1974, college: Holy Cross) who lists Magic, MJ, Bird, Duncan, and Shaq on his personal NBA Mount Rushmore was born on September 5, 1974 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 9 years old when the Boston Celtics won their second NBA title with Bird and 11 years old when they won in 1986. He was growing up at a time when Boston Sports was flourishing as the Redsox reached the World Series and Patriots the Super Bowl as well in 1986. It was only logical that he was a diehard Boston Celtics fan. “Growing up in the 80s and 90s I got to see the greatest basketball in the NBA and college. Boston was and is the sports capital of the world so I was lucky. I have great memories watching the games growing up. The rivalries were great back then”, stressed Chris Rojik. The Celtics had so many great players, but it was no surprise who his favorite players wee back in the mid 80´s when the Celtics ruled the NBA. “It had to be the big three, Bird, McHale and Parish. Have to include Dennis Johnson and Ainge as well”, said Chris Rojik. He played college ball at Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts from 1993-1997. “I had a great experience at Holy Cross and was lucky to be a part of that program. I played with a lot of great players and fortunate to be coached by some great coaches. Besides Patriot League and Ivy League schools, we played Boston College, UMass, Cal, Santa Clara, Butler, Northwestern. Great times traveling the country and playing teams from all over”, added Chris Rojik. He made big strides in his game in his last 2 seasons averaging 13,0ppg and 6,0 rpg as an undersized big at 200cm. “I developed a three-point shot and became more of a perimeter player my last two years”, commented Chris Rojik. He was fortunate to be coached by William Raynor and George Blaney who were 2 individuals that groomed and prepared him to have an enriching career overseas. “They were great coaches and I was lucky to play for them in college. So many great memories of practices and games and being with the team. A great learning experience that I will always remember”, expressed Chris Rojik.

Holy Cross teammates reunited

The big man who remembers having his battles with John Kerr at Holy Cross on the court, but doesn´t remember the outcomes came overseas in 1998 and played most of his pro career with second Bundesliga team Dragons Rhondorf for 9 seasons. His first tour of duty occurred from 1998-2000. Every American overseas have their classical wake up call to being overseas and it wasn´t any different with Rojik. “The wakeup call was seeing players sent back home to the states if they had a bad game”, remembered Chris Rojik. I actually had another connection with him in that he was teammates with current Frankfurt Skyliners CEO Gunnar Wobke, a guy I have known for more than 2 decades and seen and talked with at games. He had a very special connection with Gunnar Wobke that not many players would ever have. “Gunnar was awesome. He gave me my first job in Rhoendorf and my last one in Frankfurt”, smiled Chris Rojik. He then played in Iserlohn from 2000-2003 helping move them up to the Second Bundesliga averaging 25,0ppg in the Regionalliga and in the Second Bundesliga averaged 26/10 in his last season there. “I had great times in Iserlohn. We had some good teams playing in the second Bundesliga. I remember Quackenbruck going undefeated and destroying everybody with Chris Fleming as coach”, said Chris Rojik. He was fortunate to have been teammates with the great Matthias Grothe who unfortunately passed away in 2017. He is a guy that has forever remained in his heart. “Matthias was a good friend of mine and I still stay in contact with his family. He was a great player, teammate, coach, and friend. Watch out, his son might play in the NBA someday”, warned Chris Rojik.

Battling against his ex teammate Matthias Grothe

The American then returned back to Rhondorf for the down stretch of his career and also his best years as a player. “Rhoendorf was a great place to live and play basketball. We won a lot of games and had a lot of success”, said Chris Rojik. In his first 2 seasons he averaged 20/7 and in his next 2 seasons 17/7. In his second to last season probably had his best personal season averaging 19.1ppg, Reb-5 (9.1rpg), 2.3apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 57.8%, 3PT: 38.0%, FT: 80.5%. He topped off his stay in Rhondorf helping them win the Pro B title in 2010 averaging 16.3ppg, 6.5rpg, 2.3apg, FGP-3 (67.7%), 3PT: 34.9%, FT: 80.2%. “I had some great teammates in the Pro A and B. Every season we were competitive and one of the top teams in the league. The 2010 season was fun”, smiled Chris Rojik. That 2009-2020 team was very special. They had talented guys like Deandre Spraggins and Nick Larsen just to name a few. “Larsen was a great captain and point guard. Spraggins had the perfect season that year with his highlight dunks and threes. We had some great road wins. The team had a good mix of veterans and young guys”, remembered Chris Rojik. He was also fortunate to the see the future of German basketball develop and grow and was teammates with a very young Jonas Bottermann-Wolfarth that would go on to have a great career in Germany. “What memories did he have of young German Jonas Wolfarth-Bottermann. It took him a few years to make his breakthrough but he did. Was he still a bit raw when you were teammates? “WoBo was awesome just dunking on everybody left and right. It’s great to see all the success he’s had over the last decade”, said Chris Rojik. He then finished his pro career overseas with the Deutsche Bank Skyliners Frankfurt Second Team (Germany-ProB) averaging 18.0ppg, 8.4rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 57.6%, 3PT: 33.9%, FT: 87.4%. “I had a great year at Frankfurt playing and coaching. Thankful for all the coaches there. It was fun to coach the young guys and see their success as they got older”, stressed Chris Rojik. Did he notice in the 2010-2011 season that something special was developing in Frankfurt with their youth program? Guys like Voigtmann and Barthel would join soon after and become Euroleague players? “Coach Perwas and Herbert are great coaches so all the success they had completely makes sense! Their focus on young German talent is also very significant”, added Chris Rojik. So where is Chris Rojik in 2025? Of course back in his home state. “I’ve been living in the Boston area since 2011 with my wife and three kids and everything is going great. I’ve coached all of my kids through youth basketball and AAU”, said Chris Rojik. Is there anything that he specifically misses about the game. “There’s nothing like getting on a court and playing basketball. I still get to run up and down once in a while. You can usually find me on the sidelines now coaching my kids. That keeps me involved in the game”, added Chris Rojik. One thing is for sure bigs that played in Germany during the 2000´s will never forget the game of Chris Rojik who was an undersized big, but that already had the modern day big man game 20 years ago.