Pilots’ Nik similar to big brother Derek

PORTLAND – No matter the sport or activity – basketball, bikes, football or video games – if there was a score to be kept or a time to beat, the Raivio brothers would go at it full throttle. They might not have realized it at the time, but those 1-on-1 games on the backyard court made both Derek and Nik better players.

“That’s where I learned to be competitive,” said Nik, who is roughly 16 months younger than Derek. “If you drove baseline, somebody was going to get shoved into the bushes.”

The 2-on-2 games were no less competitive. That’s when dad, Rick, a Hall of Fame basketball player at the University of Portland, teamed up with Matt, who is five years younger than Nik, to take on Nik and Derek.

“Those games were pretty intense,” Nik said. “We’d always pound on my little brother and (dad) would make up for it by pounding on us.”

That competitive fire has served the Raivio brothers well. Derek had a distinguished four-year career at Gonzaga and is currently playing professionally for a team in Germany. Nik is a sophomore guard at Portland, which entertains the Bulldogs tonight. Matt, a senior, just helped Vancouver’s Mountain View High qualify for the upcoming state tournament.

Nik, 22, took an indirect route to Portland’s program. He was 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds as a prep senior who drew interest but no Division I offers. He was considering playing at a prep school on the East Coast, but the college coach who recommended it had second thoughts. Nik sat out the year, then ended up at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado.

After averaging 10.1 points on a deep, balanced team, Raivio received attention from D-Is but nothing concrete. He visited Saint Mary’s, but the Gaels didn’t have any scholarships. Raivio said Gonzaga showed some interest, but that changed after Matt Bouldin committed.

Raivio went to Santa Rosa (Calif.) Junior College, but he broke his collarbone in practice just before the start of the season. By the time he was healthy, the season was nearly half over and Raivio didn’t want to burn a year of eligibility.

All the while, Raivio grew about an inch and added about 10 pounds at each stop. Portland had kept the 6-4 and 195-pound Raivio on its radar.

“They were talking to me all fall and summer when the new coaches (Eric Reveno and his staff) came,” Raivio said. “At semester one of their guards left and it opened up a scholarship. At the time, it sounded good, a chance for a lot of playing time and a new coaching staff. And it was about 25 minutes from my house.”

It’s worked out for Raivio and the Pilots. He’s the team’s lone double-figures scorer at 13.1 points and he’s second in assists (59). He has started all 27 games for the youthful Pilots, who are 8-19 overall, 2-9 in the WCC, one of those losses a 38-pointer to Gonzaga last month.

“I do think we’re getting better,” he said. “I know our record doesn’t show it. We’ve lost four or five games by 15 points combined. We’ve been there with a lot of teams; we just need to get over the hump.”

Nik and Derek haven’t played 1-on-1 for a couple of years – the last session ended with each winning three games – but the younger brother still recalls the lessons learned from those marathon sessions.

“Just playing against him and seeing how he was always playing against older kids, he was able to be creative and find ways to beat bigger, stronger guys,” Nik said.

They share a passion for shooting. Derek was known for locking himself in the gym for hours at GU.

“I try to get in the gym on my own every day and get some extra reps,” Nik said. “I guess we’re all probably gym rats.”