Before joining the Wildcats, Northwestern freshman Jake West already had 1.6 million followers on TikTok.
“I was just joking with my friends one day after school and it wasn’t even on my account. It was with my friends and they were just starting to go viral and I was like, okay, maybe I should just sign up for an account and start posting,” West said. “I really didn’t know it was going to be like this, but here we are.”
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West continued, “A lot of my stuff is fast and natural. I mean you see it. You know, it’s fun to dance and kind of just be myself.”
Asked how he found out West had more than 1 million followers on TikTok, Wildcats coach Chris Collins said: “My 18-year-old daughter probably told me that. She said, ‘Dad, you know Jake has about 2 million followers? He’s a big deal.'”
“Back home, I’m going to get a lot of recognition just because I’m in this area. People know who I am, but I think here, I don’t get that much recognition. So, it’s cool, but I think now that I’m starting to get more comfortable and playing well, people are starting to recognize me more,” West said.
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“He wanted to be a basketball player first. I think the social media thing came out of nowhere. He was like, ‘Hey, I think I’ll take it now, but I want to be a basketball player,'” Collins said.
“I wanted to stick with basketball. Basketball was my first love. Growing up, all I wanted to do was play basketball. And, like I said, the social media thing just came about as a joke and kind of organically. I definitely didn’t think I was going to get to this point, you know, having numbers million fans, but I think it’s cool because I can show that I’m a basketball player as well and what I love to do. I think I’ve been able to build such a cool fan base because I have different avenues in my life that people love to see,” West said.
