LYLE — Lyle-Pacelli senior Joseph Maas saw his career go full-circle with the Athletics over the past five years. Now he’s ready to take the next step in his basketball path.

Maas cemented his basketball future when he signed his national letter-of-intent to play at North Central University next season in Lyle High School Tuesday.

“I really love what they have to offer and their coach [Jon High] is such a great person,” Maas said of North Central. “I’m really excited to get to work over there.”

Maas was once an eager youngster playing for LP, but this year he served as one of the team’s go-to leaders for a young squad that went 16-11 overall and advanced to the Section 1A West title game. Maas averaged 8.6 points, four rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this past season and he credited all of his coaches and teammates for helping him along the way.

“We had a great athlete like Noah Jiskra show us young kids the way when I was young and this year, Trinity [ Anderson] and I showed the younger kids the way,” Maas said. “It was easy with such a great group of guys. They were ready to work just as hard as we were. We’ve got a lot of great young talent coming up and I’m happy leave the team the way that it is. They’ve got a lot of great years ahead of them.”

Maas has a definite passion for basketball as he always played the game with flare and enthusiasm. He’s excited to have the opportunity to continue playing next season.

“It was a dream of mine to play in high school and continue onto college ever since I was a young kid,” Maas said. “Basketball’s always been my favorite sport and that’s why I bring so much passion and energy into it. Every game I always play like it’s my last game, because you never know when it’s going to be your last. I’ve got so much love for the game.”

The Rams play in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and they went 7-18 overall last season.

North Central University is a Division III Christian university with a bible-based and Pentecostal foundation.