Courtesy: Joe Reuter
Joe Reuter ’25 is playing professional basketball in Luxembourg after finishing his college basketball career with the Hillsdale Chargers last March.
“I knew going to the NBA would be awesome to do, but not super realistic, so I thought playing overseas in Europe was a great next option for me,” Reuter said.
Reuter plays for the Avanti Mondorf of the Luxembourg Nationale 2 league, which is the second of three all-Luxembourg basketball leagues. The top two teams in Nationale 2 after each season earn a promotion to the top-ranked Luxembourg Basketball League.
Reuter played four seasons for the Chargers and earned recognition in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference each season. Reuter was G-MAC Freshman of the Year in 2022, Second Team All G-MAC in 2023, and First Team All-G-MAC in 2024 and 2025. He finished his career with 1,362 points. His 140 steals are 10th all-time in Charger history
Athletic Director John Tharp was the head men’s basketball coach during Reuter’s first two years at Hillsdale.
“Joe Reuter may have been the hardest-working player I’ve ever coached at Hillsdale,” Tharp said. “His commitment to improving his game, the program, and the college was truly amazing. You want to talk about student athletes and somebody who gave everything he had to Hillsdale College basketball and Hillsdale College, Joe Reuter was an example of everything we’d want in a student athlete.”
Ashton Janowski, senior and captain of the Hillsdale basketball team, said Reuter brought a special work ethic to the Chargers.
“He was a really hard worker,” Janowski said. “He wanted to win at all costs, and he was going to do whatever it took to get there and to be successful.”
Current head coach Keven Bradley said he was not surprised that Reuter wanted to play professionally after graduation.
“Joe has just always had a very professional approach to the things that he does on a daily basis,” Bradley said. “As far as his conditioning and taking care of himself, and his mental prep, and his academics, he’s always been incredibly professional.”
Reuter said adjusting to the new rigors of European basketball was difficult at times
“You really start right away,” Reuter said. “In college and in the states, there’s usually a month and a half of preseason. As soon as I got off the plane, I had practice the next day, and it was right into it. It was an experience getting used to coming into the season right away and being 100% from day one.”
Reuter has found early success in the league, currently standing in the top 10 in points per game, rebounds per game, steals per game, and 2-point shooting percentage. He had a career game Dec. 5, racking up 39 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, and four steals against the Black Star Mersch.
Reuter said he noted differences in the strategy between the European and American games.
“It’s definitely a lot more tactical,” Reuter said. “There’s a lot more focus on the half-court and a lot more screening, cutting, and moving. Hillsdale was pretty similar to the European system. It’s much more intellectual and much more focused on rules.”
In addition to the strategic differences in Europe, Reuter said some of the rules are also different. European basketball features more relaxed rules for goaltending, wider paint, and a different definition of traveling. In Europe, a dribble counts when the ball hits the court, as opposed to when it leaves the hand.
Reuter said he likes the freedom of workouts and team practice in European basketball.
“There’s much more emphasis on individual improvement,” Reuter said. That’s how it works for a foreign player trying to work his way up. You really only see your teammates during practice. It’s pretty independent and at your own pace. They expect you to be in shape, but it’s more on yourself. There’s not a lot of team lifts going on. You have to bet on yourself to really improve.”
Janowski said Reuter hopes to continue playing professional basketball.
“He really does like it over there,” Janowski said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m happy for him that it’s worked out. He’s playing a lot, he’s playing well, and the last time I talked to him, he said he really wants to make a career out of it.”
