After experiencing diverse walks of American life, Jaret Valencia ended up in Wichita to play basketball at Wichita State. But Kansas isn’t as unfamiliar to him as one would think.
Born in Quibdó, Colombia, Valencia moved to the U.S. as a child and lived in places such as California, Tennessee, Texas and New Jersey.
“Cali is beautiful, but it’s very expensive. Everything is like, high end and stuff like that. It wasn’t like my vibe. Tennessee was too cold and like, basically the middle of nowhere,” Valencia said. “Texas felt like if it was Colombia, that’s the closest thing to Colombia. When I was in college in New Jersey, (it) felt like home too. There was a lot of Latinos there.”
His first year of high school was in California, then he moved to Tennessee. Valencia’s final two years were in Houston, where he attended the Legacy School of Sport Sciences and helped his team win back-to-back Texas 6A state championships.
“I started playing basketball because I was getting taller too fast,” Valencia said. “And my dad played basketball … so everybody was like, ‘Oh yeah, you’ve got to play basketball.’ But I’ve really got a passion for soccer. I’m not too good at it, but I love watching soccer more than I enjoy watching basketball.”
While playing basketball in Texas, he played for now-WSU assistant coach PJ Couisnard. Valencia moved to New Jersey for his first year of college at Monmouth University in 2022, and then came to WSU ahead of the 2025-26 season. Couisnard was hired to be assistant coach in May of this year.
“It’s (Valencia and Couisnard’s relationship) a type of big brother, big uncle. I played many roles with Jaret, coach, friend, best friend, sometimes worst friend. I just love him to death,” Couisnard said. “When he picked us (WSU) over Syracuse and Arkansas, I think it was the best thing that could have happened … and just to get the chance to coach him again, you know, we didn’t think it would happen again, so you never take that for granted.”
Valencia lived with Couisnard during his time in Houston, too. Couisnard said it was “a fun experience.”
“When he first moved in with me, he couldn’t speak English very well. His English was really, really bad,” Couisnard said. “So, he watched a lot of movies, music videos, rap videos. Just talking trash to him every day helped him learn, like get his English to where it is today.”
When comparing the places he’s lived, Valencia said Wichita is “very quiet”. He also said that he’s grateful to be working with Couisnard again because they’ve “been through a lot together.”
“Colombia is a very beautiful country … a lot of great people there. It’s very nice and they’re going to make you feel like you’re at home,” Valencia said. “… (Wichita) it’s a really very quiet place I like because I get to focus on my dream and do what I like.”
