How can Boston girls basketball be restored? Part 3: Why it matters
This is the final part of a three-part series investigating the decline of girls basketball interest and talent in Boston.
'Just be different than me': How Ahnay Adams — and her mom — charted a new path - New England Basketball Journal
Ahnay Adams wears No. 5 to honor 5 Morgan Terrace.
The address for her grandmother’s house is two blocks from Monte’s Park. It’s a grassy square in the middle of the South End in New Bedford, Mass., with two basketball courts that Adams frequented growing up. Monte’s Park is also known as a spot that attracts gang activity and violence.
Adams donned No. 5 throughout her prep school career at Tilton, where she won three New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year awards and emerged as New England’s...
Inside Veronica Burton's month-long WNBA comeback - New England Basketball Journal
In a bizarre coincidence — one they attribute to a blessing in disguise — Kayla and Veronica Burton were back home together between May and June.
Veronica had just been cut by the Dallas Wings on May 12, two days before the start of the WNBA season. She packed her bags quickly and returned to her family in Newton, Mass. Kayla was also in a transition period, had moved to the Boston area, and would soon join the NBC Sports Boston coverage team. At that time, they both thought long and hard about...
Verbal offers: A most valuable ticket. But how do they actually work? - New England Basketball Journal
The verbal offer is perhaps the most valuable commodity in amateur basketball. These tickets validate a child’s countless hours in the gym and help build the reputation of an AAU or high school program. Announcements of verbal offers spawn thousands of custom graphics that litter social media timelines. They are a pillar of the recruiting news cycle.
Yet there is nothing tangible about them.
A verbal offer occurs when a college coach tells a player that they’d like to give them a scholarship or...
Brockton’s AJ Dybantsa is taking flight, and bringing his family along for the ride - New England Basketball Journal
Chelsea Dybantsa sometimes struggles to enter her son’s room. It’s empty much of the year now, a reminder that AJ Dybantsa is far from home, chasing his basketball dreams.
The most bittersweet days for Chelsea are when Dybantsa does return to his Brockton, Mass., home. They don’t come often — he plays both high school and AAU out west — and she wants to maximize their short times together as a family.
“It actually gets harder, just because I want him to be here, and we know that there's a part o...
Terrence Clarke died three years ago. A tidal wave of elite Mass. basketball players are keeping his memory alive. - The Boston Globe
On Sept. 14, 2019, in Roxbury’s Vine Street Community Center, Clarke committed to play basketball at Kentucky . It was a coronation of sorts for Boston’s homegrown basketball celebrity, one of the top high school players in the nation.
But five years ago, Asemota was just a kid with hoop dreams, watching Terrence Clarke light the way.
Jason Asemota is one of Massachusetts’ brightest young basketball talents. A four-star wing from Lynn, Asemota just finished his senior season at Hillcrest Prep
How women’s basketball star Harmoni Turner overcame childhood trauma to shine for Harvard - The Boston Globe
For so long, Turner’s poise masked a deep-rooted insecurity, grown from childhood trauma with her biological mother, that defined much of her life. Only recently has the junior felt comfortable sharing.
Her swagger shines through in her 20.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2 steals per game. It gleams when she dribbles into a sharp crossover, throws a flashy pass, or pounces on a steal. It radiates when she drills a 3-pointer and holds an ear to a roaring Crimson fan base, as she did Sat
How a philosophy major from Harvard became the best college distance runner in the country - The Boston Globe
But Blanks has an important distinction: He’s probably the best collegiate distance runner in the country.
He proudly shows off the bookshelf on his desk packed with philosophy texts. He pivots to the back of his dorm room, where the bike he uses to navigate Cambridge sits. Blanks is majoring in economics and philosophy, and is a music lover, wearing a Pavement T-shirt in front of a Bob Marley poster.
On Nov. 20, Blanks became the first Ivy League male runner and first Massachusetts collegiate
‘A runaway train that needs structure’: A peek inside the world of youth travel basketball - The Boston Globe
Courts 16 and 17, where the best teams often play, draw the largest crowds. Parents hover along the sidelines, some sneaking glances at sweatshirts in search of a university logo. They put down $70 to watch for the weekend.
It’s the opening tipoff of the three-day Atlantic City Showcase, and each one of the 34 courts set up in the Convention Center buzzes with a game featuring girls playing in the U10 to U17 age groups. In all, the May weekend event will feature 517 teams, most having to pay a
‘Well, what if Harvard wins?’ 25 years later, the Crimson’s epic upset of No. 1 Stanford shines bright. - The Boston Globe
“That’s an easy question, actually,” Feaster said. “That is probably at the top of the list. Especially in amateur basketball. I don’t know, there was so much — that win was just so much more than just that one moment.”
But one triumph ranks above the rest: Harvard’s upset of top-seeded powerhouse Stanford in the NCAA Tournament on March 14, 1998.
Allison Feaster has a stacked deck of career basketball achievements. She is second all-time in scoring in the Ivy League at 2,312 points. She playe
Source of strength: Cathedral’s dedicated backcourt duo of Keyona Raines and Hijjah Allen-Paisley lean on each other — on and off the court - The Boston Globe
Allen-Paisley, meanwhile, is a vibrant, vocal leader as a sophomore, and pairs with Raines in the backcourt as a dynamic shotmaker for a program seeking its fifth state title in eight seasons.
Once a running back/tight end on the Pop Warner football field, Raines is now a starting freshman guard for the 16-4 Cathedral girls’ basketball team, ranked 10th in this week’s Globe Top 20, and the top squad in the MIAA Division 4 power rankings by a wide margin. Raines glides to the hoop with strength
‘Sacred to our tradition:’ How Mashpee girls’ basketball has embraced Wampanoag heritage and culture within the community - The Boston Globe
The Eastern Sun Singers broke into two songs: one of pride for the Mashpee community, and an honor song for Ryan Hendricks, a former Mashpee Wampanoag student-athlete who was killed in a car accident last October. The group’s verses and the thumping sounds of their center drum echoed around the Mashpee Wampanoag Community and Government Center as a crowded audience watched in reverent silence.
MASHPEE — Before the Mashpee High girls’ basketball team tipped off against Hull Friday night, the Fal
Why are girls’ basketball stars leaving MIAA schools for NEPSAC programs? - The Boston Globe
Within weeks, Donovan had taken a visit to St. George’s School and was blown away by what the Middletown, R.I., boarding school had to offer: smaller class sizes, a sprawling coastal campus, and a highly competitive basketball environment. She transferred, reclassified to the Class of 2025, and recently finished a successful first semester.
Donovan was happy with her high school basketball success and her friends and coaches at Duxbury High. But soon after the 2021-22 season ended in March, she
How sports nutrition and biometrics are evolving NBA training
Boot camp begins as soon as players are done with their respective prior seasons. They arrive at Impact and take part in comprehensive body testing to establish a full physical profile. The technology includes a bioelectrical impedence analysis that uses electrical currents to scan body composition. Sweat patches can read how much sodium athletes need in their system.
Variables such as blood work, stress hormone levels, nutrient deficienies, pre-workout hydration levels and post-workout hydrati
She was a Brighton girls’ basketball captain living in foster care — and a single mother. Now, she’s headed off to college. - The Boston Globe
“Busy is good for me. And I like it,” Conway said. “I’m not really overwhelmed, because once I have a schedule, I stick to the schedule.”
Her schedule is written out weeks, sometimes months, in advance. During the school year, it was the schedule of an 18-year-old Brighton High senior, a basketball team captain, an aspiring college student, a child in the foster care system, and a mother.
Jaylynn Conway-Hernandez maps out her month on a giant planner hanging on the wall next to her desk. It’s
Jeremy Sochan, a 'citizen of the world,' sets course for the NBA
Sochan exploded in his second year with the program. He put up 16.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 3.0 assists per game in the summer of 2019, leading Poland to the European Class B title and winning MVP honors in his tour de force through the continent.
Sochan had proven himself on one of the largest European stages. But as his name reached scouting circles in the United States, Sochan transferred to La Lumiere High School, a national powerhouse program in Indiana. It featured a loaded r
Meet Justė Jocytė: 15-year-old phenom and professional record-breaker
Sometimes Justė Jocytė needs to slow down her warp-speed world.
The Lithuanian channels Drake and "chill music" through her headphones, and takes a walk to find a space for herself. In her preparation process, Jocytė makes it a point to clear her head of stress.
"Literally, it's almost like meditating," Jocytė told BasketballNews.com in an exclusive interview via Zoom. "You just stop thinking. Just take a deep breath, clear your head out and really just stop overthinking everything. I think th
Drawing upon his family’s perilous flight from Cambodia, Brandon Eang has built a volleyball family at Westford Academy - The Boston Globe
As a coach and multimedia teacher at the high school, the 51-year-old Eang takes pride in his positive impact on young people.
Soft-spoken, detail-oriented, yet methodical, Brandon Eang has directed the Westford Academy boys’ volleyball program to the top of the stacked Dual County League. The 6-0 Grey Ghosts take after his positive, experimental, and passionate approach to the learning process.
But to Eang, education itself is more than a concept. It’s a complicated, tragic, triumphant journe
