NOBLESVILLE — “So many days, I never thought I’d make it out. So many days I thought about shutting down.” – Andy Riemersma, New Day
Andy Riemersma will sing those lyrics from his latest song, “New Day,” in roughly seven minutes. A crowd of Noblesville Boom fans and a few players from the Pacers’ G-League affiliate are waiting to hear the team chaplain perform.
But for now, Riemersma is in the tunnel by Section 8 inside the Arena at Innovation Mile. The 30-year-old hip-hop artist is swaying his arms back and forth to loosen his body. His knees aren’t as weak, and his arms aren’t as heavy as they were the first time he performed a spoken word as a sophomore at Indiana Wesleyan in 2016. But he’s still anxious.
He contemplates doing push-ups to calm his nerves before bending down to tie his Jordan 11 Concord sneakers. The performance holds weight.
Riemersma always wanted to play in the NBA. His 5-11 frame and three concussions in high school derailed his dreams. But here he is on March 20, living in what he called “God’s round-about” plan for him to pastor and perform in the NBA.
There are five minutes until show time. It feels like an “eternity” to Riemersma. He uses it to say a prayer and practice his set.
“So many days, I never thought I’d make it out. So many days I thought about shutting down,” Riemersma repeats as he holds his phone, which is playing the song’s instrumental, to his ear.
The line alludes to a time when Riemersma considered quitting music. He questioned why anyone would want to listen to him among all Christian artists. But it is also in reference to the grind of building momentum in the early days of planting ONE Church in Westfield, where he pastors. Riemersma sees a similar reality in the lives of the G-League players he counsels.
“Sometimes I can sense the players just don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow — are they going to get a call-up, be out of the G-League, or go overseas? And so it’s just like it feels almost like a lack of security with the grind that comes with the G-League,” Riemersma said. “But if I can bring the gospel in and teach them our security is in Christ, then ifthey lost basketball, tomorrow, you would be okay. You have enough of a foundation under you.”
Riemersma uses music to break down the walls players often hold up. Through pastoring, Riemersma reinforces a purpose bigger than basketball to players who are uncertain of what’s next. Current players like Gabe McGlothan and former ones like Stephan Hicks have reaped the benefits of Riemersma’s faithfulness with his two gifts.
Riemersma helps players on opposite career trajectories
“You be pickin’ me up every time I’m falling down.” – Riemersma, New Day
McGlothan met Riemersma in November 2025, a month before the Pacers signed him to a 10-day hardship contract. McGlothan, who is pursuing a master’s of divinity at Grand Canyon University, asked Riemersma to do an internship at ONE Church to fulfill course requirements.
McGlothan’s season ended after he sustained multiple rib fractures in a late February game against Capital City. The injury allowed McGlothan more time to focus on his internship and grow his relationship with Riemersma. Riemersma carved out time in his busy schedule to disciple McGlothan, as the two occasionally went to lunch and had late-night phone calls.
Riemersma allowed McGlothan to preach at his church during a late March service. Afterward, the duo “went over film,” McGlothan said, in which Riemersma provided McGlothan with feedback on his sermon.
“Us going over that together was encouraging and very pivotal because it was like, ‘Oh, I can do this,’” McGlothan said. “I didn’t know what my future was going to be with ministry. But because of that opportunity and us going over it, I could see the giftings that God has given. Right now, my time block is basketball, but Andy helped spark the foundation of what I could do in ministry later.”
McGlothan praised Riemersma for his intentionality and credited him for “going out of his way just to show so much care and love.” For Hicks, his journey is different from McGlothan’s. But his experience with Andy is the same.
Hicks spent eight seasons with the Boom franchise (formerly Mad Ants) and retired in 2023, having never played in an NBA game. Noblesville retired his jersey in March 2025. The former Cal State Northridge standout moved back home to Los Angeles, where he works in a post office.
“Being in the G League, there’s a lot of ups and downs, and if you don’t have your head on straight, it can have you shut down and get overwhelmed,” Hicks said. “I wasn’t being the best man I could be to my now-wife because of that, and Andy helped me get closer to God and understand my responsibilities as a man.”
Riemersma is a father of two daughters, with a third child on the way. Since becoming a chaplain in 2023, Riemersma has developed routines with his family to ensure they remain his priority.
The Westfield native takes a Sabbath rest day every Friday, during which he fasts from social media and turns off his phone for part of the day. He and his wife, Leanza, who plays acoustic guitar, often initiate worship jam sessions and go on family walks.
“Seeing how he puts his family first helped me grow as the leader of my family,” Boom assistant coach Bryce Taylor said. Taylor met Riemersma in 2023. Riemersma baptized the father of three a year later.
Added McGlothan: “That’s something that you’re always balancing as a working man — creating windows of time and opportunities just to spend time with your family. During the season, things are very busy, so just seeing how he navigates that because I think as a pastor of a church, you’re really there to be in support of 100s of people, and I think it would be easy to be overwhelmed at times, but he does it really easily or effortlessly.”
The role that appeared easy was once hard for Riemersma to accept.
How Riemersma got into ministry
“You been workin’ it all out for my good. You been doin’ everything You said You would.” – Riemersma, New Day
Riemersma wanted to focus on business after college. An advisor at Indiana Wesleyan encouraged him in 2015 to pursue full-time ministry.
Riemersma was hesitant. His view of a pastor is what he described as “jaded.”
Riemersma didn’t want to wear a suit and carry a big Bible. He wanted to don street wear and Jordans as a way to relate to the youth and “connect organically through the work of the Spirit,” he said.
God provided clarity amid his indecision. What he wore didn’t matter in comparison to how he led. Riemersma’s heart for others was clear, and God was going to use him just as he was to make an eternal impact.
Riemersma founded the campus ministry “Awaken” at Ball State in 2017. He served as a youth pastor in Fishers from 2019 to 2021 and opened ONE Church in 2022.
While Riemersma and Leanza felt compelled to plant a church in 2020, Leanza had not given up on her dream to do music with her husband.
Riemersma doubted it would come to fruition. Similar to pastoral care, he expected something contrary to the truth. He thought he would have to play guitar and different acoustic instruments. Leanza thought of rap.
She encouraged him to pursue it, watering the seed Riemersma’s dad, Randy, had planted when he introduced Andy to Christian hip-hop during his senior year in high school.
“It became clear with music — God wants me to use it to reach people that may not come into a church setting because a song can sometimes reach where a sermon can’t,” Riemersma said.
New season, same purpose
“It’s a new day.” — Riemersma, New Day
Riemersma is now comfortable in his call. He visits the studio at least once a month to record. At times, Riemersma uses a bar as a word of encouragement in a sermon or during chapel. Music is just as much a ministry as pastoring. “Two lungs working together,” as Riemersma described it.
As he grappled with perception and purpose, he needed the likes of his wife and an advisor to steer him in his giftings. Now it’s his job to help players recognize their own.
“He actually loves them, no matter if their career pans out or not,” said Mike Colaw, one of Riemersma’s mentors.
Riemersma still checks in with Hicks and other former players via text. He can’t forget the players of old. His shepherd’s heart won’t allow him.
The Boom ended the 2026 season with a 16-20 record and failed to make the playoffs. Next season will feature a new set of players. Which means new stories and new conversations. Maybe Riemersma and McGlothan’s go-to Thai or Mexican food spot will become a mainstay for meet-ups with players.
But certain to remain is Riemersma’s music and pastoral care as the means by which he speaks truth and life into each player who walks into the chapel. Reminding them that when the ball stops dribbling, they can look forward to life on the other side of basketball.
To a new day.
“One of the things I always say to the guys is, ‘I don’t want something from them, I want something for them,’” Riemersma said. “They’re not people’s first pick to watch and so much of life could be unpredictable in the G-League, but I’m so grateful to do ministry there because at the end of the day, I can let them know God is sovereign and he’s going to help orchestrate our steps even when things don’t make sense.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Pacers chaplain Andy Riemersma makes impact on G League players