Latrobe basketball practices were flush with elite talent during the late 2010s.

Those Wildcats teams produced future Division I players Austin Butler (Holy Cross, Charlotte) and Reed Fenton (Lehigh). Sean Graytok averaged 19.9 points as a senior in 2015-16 and went on to play at Coast Guard. And Bryce Butler, Austin’s younger brother, recently was named conference player of the year for West Liberty, which is ranked No. 2 in Division II.

But when Shippensburg coach Chris Fite came back to his alma mater and watched Latrobe, someone else caught his eye: point guard Jake Biss.

“He was the one I was drawn to most. There was something about the way Jake played, his decision making, the way he saw the floor,” Fite said. “I really saw the potential in him. He really fit the way we play. We recruited him pretty hard.”

Biss put his trust in Fite — the Most Outstanding Player of the 1990 D-III Final Four while with Rochester — and chose the D-II Raiders. It turned out to be a perfect match, as Biss recently completed a career in which he was named first-team All-PSAC East twice and PSAC East Player of the Year as a junior in 2019-20.

“He’s by far the best coach I’ve ever had, without a doubt,” Biss said of Fite. “We’ve definitely built a bond over the years. I owe a lot to him. He’s put me in a lot of great positions. I feel like he’s gotten the most out of me, more than any other coach I’ve had.”

One of the biggest things Fite helped Biss do was unlock his scoring. As a high school senior, he averaged 12 points, six assists and four rebounds. The two-time Tribune-Review Terrific 10 selection graduated as Latrobe’s all-time leaders in assists, but he was “unselfish to a fault, almost,” Fite said.

“We saw the potential for him to be more of a scoring point guard and someone who could go get buckets for us,” Fite said. “I think that’s one of the things he’s really embraced during his time here is that ability to score.”

And Fite gives all the credit to Biss.

“He was really driven to get every last drop out his ability, and he really did max it out. He can’t have any regrets as far as his commitment and the time he put in. I feel that’s a huge part of his success.

“A lot of people will say ‘What did you do to this or that?’ and my answer is ‘I didn’t do anything.’ Jake did it all. He really busted his butt to be the best he could be, and he’s a perfect example of hard work paying off.”

The 6-foot-3 Biss came off the bench as a freshman at Shippensburg but moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore, averaging 15.8 points and 4.4 assists. He put up almost identical numbers as a junior, when he won player of the year and finished second in the PSAC in minutes played.

The Raiders did not play in 2020-21 because of the pandemic, but Biss came back as a graduate student this season and averaged a career-best 16.7 points to go with 3.7 assists. Their season ended with a loss to IUP in the PSAC Tournament semifinals March 5.

Biss never got the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament — the Raiders qualified in 2019-20 but it was canceled when the pandemic hit — yet the Raiders went 93-31 during his four seasons.

“I was happy that every year I was there, we were able to get Coach Fite a 20-win season,” Biss said. “That’s something to be proud of. That’s a big accomplishment for any college team.”

After the 2020-21 season was canceled, Biss had the option of entering the transfer portal and catching on with a D-I program. And since he had just won player of the year, it’s likely he could have landed somewhere. Any consideration vanished quickly, he said.

“I thought about it for a second, but it wasn’t too long,” Biss said. “I’m too loyal to Coach Fite. He’s been good to me. I was in such a great position at Ship. Why would I want to leave that and risk going to a school where maybe it works out, but maybe I sit the bench and play five minutes a game?”

Biss isn’t ready to close the door on basketball. He said he plans to go to Paris at the end of the summer and play in the summer league there and hopefully catch on with a team in Europe.

Safe to say he’ll have the endorsement of his coach, who spent 11 seasons as a pro in Europe.

“He absolutely was a Division I talent, which he has shown over his time here,” Fite said.

“He’s been a pillar that we’ve built around and counted on for the last five years. I couldn’t have asked for more from a player and a young man than I got from him.”

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