West Side Christian graduate Stephfan Tabe has traveled a few miles playing basketball since he last suited up for the Warriors in 2020. Tabe signed with Ouachita Baptist out of high school before transferring to University of the Ozarks last season.
This summer, Tabe is playing in a Dominican Republic professional league.
Tabe, whose mother is Dominican, said he played in the league for the first time last summer. He compared it to the NBA’s G-League except it is for the Dominican Pro League.
Tabe’s goal is to get drafted into the Dominican Professional League and perhaps one day, get into a league in Europe.
“This is where they pick from,” said Tabe. “They have me getting drafted right now in the second round. This summer if I do good, my agent has told me I could get picked up in the first round.”
A 6-foot-5 forward, Tabe said he will be playing shooting guard and small forward for Club Calero this summer.
Tabe played two years at OBU before transferring to Ozarks, where he averaged 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds last season, playing in 24 games with 14 starts.
“I’ve enjoyed it so far,” he said of his time at Ozarks. “Last year we got a new coach so we didn’t have the best season. I had a pretty good season. As a team, we just didn’t finish where we wanted to finish. We’re going to have the same coach next year and we’re bringing in some good pieces so it’s exciting.”
Tabe has one more year at Ozarks, where his major is Health Science with a minor in Entrepreneurship. He said the opportunity to spend the summer playing professional basketball was too good to pass up.
“It’s not like, ‘oh, you’re just over there because you have family and you know people.’ That’s not the case at all,” he said. “For you to get invited and for them to get you a plane ticket over here and get you a place to play, pay for the travel and the food and all that, they have to actually pick you up.”
The style of play, of course, is a step up from NCAA Division II and Division III.
“The professional speed of the game is different from college. Most of these guys are professionals,” he said. “Last year I played against two guys who are playing in the (NBA) G-League, right now. One guy I played with is playing in Mexico, another in Turkey. One guy is playing in Europe. So there’s been some pretty big names I’m playing against.
“As far as athleticism goes, it’s pretty similar. But just like the speed of the game and the way the game is played and the shots you get are a little bit different.”
Most of the players in the league are 22-years-old or younger. Tabe is 21. For him, competing in the Dominican Republic is just another step in a long journey.
“The biggest thing for me I think is developing a better pace for playing professional basketball. I’m pretty good right now at creating my own shot. But the pace is a little bit different. Being able to play with stronger guys. Most of these guys are pretty strong. Most of these guys are pretty big,” he said.
“If everything goes as planned here, I’ll just graduate and come over here to play professionally and hopefully expand from here and go play in Europe. If not, I’ll just finish up in Ozarks, graduate and go into nursing.”
Tabe’s Plan B is solid but he’s going to give Plan A everything he’s got before he puts the basketball down.
“The ideal goal is to be playing in Europe,” he said. “The other plan is, if it doesn’t benefit me to come over here and play, then I’ll go the nursing path.”