Two years later he was invited to the senior team by Alexander Gomelsky, but then 19-year-old Jaak refused, explaining the decision as "I was too young and wanted to concentrate on studies".

[1] Even though he did not have a chance to play under Alexander Gomelsky anymore, he made the breakthrough when Vladimir Kondrashin was appointed as the head coach of the national team, the once rejected Estonian was given an opportunity.

6 years later, in 1985 he became the head coach of Tallinn Kalev, his former team, which struggled to show decent results in both Soviet and Estonian SSR championships.

This is believed to be last big success for Jaak Salumets as a coach, as Kalev won the prestigious Haarlem Basketball Week tournament.

In the way to the win, Estonian champions defeated Australia national basketball team in final-four, who reached the semi-final at the 1996 Summer Olympics following year and PBC CSKA Moscow in the grand final.