The SJV culture is different than any team in the Shore Conference. Not because of there winning tradition. Not because they won their 14th SCT TITLE last night. Not because Coach Dawn Karpell is a brilliant coach. These things are a given when you have the history of SJV. What makes SJV different is the players. SJV players over the years have been special, dare I say different. They think and see differently than others.
Today when a player decides to choose a high school and yes they pick a school. The question is what goes into them picking a school. Rylee Drahos, I admire because she decided to attend Shore high school. She didn’t bathe in or seek attention from high school coaches. She didn’t need to have her ego stroked or need to be made or feel more important than her classmates. She didn’t ask who was on the high school roster? She didn’t ask for promises. She didn’t pick a school because her friends did or did not attend a school. She just showed up at her high school and went to practice. SJV has a roster of kids like RYAN DRAHOS, kids who are looking for nothing except a chance to play the best high school basketball in the country and get a good education. You see at SJV there are no promises made and each day you have to prove yourself.
Breana Delaney is a kid, I can assure you; few know about. She is a kid who choose to attend SJV. She could have stayed home and attended Marlboro high school this year. A excellent program with a talented coached and D1 players. She most likely would have started. She probably would be in the All Freshman Conversation. But Breana Delaney decided to do what many other talented SJV players before her have done. She decided she wanted to challenge herself to be the best basketball player she could be against the best of the best. She decided she would do what current D1 players, Jada Bonner(Quinnipiac), Bre Bellamy(William Mary) Rahmena Henderson( Sam Houston) and future D1 players and current SJV starters Katie Hill, Ashley O’Connor, Emma Bruen and Megan Cahalan all did.. wait there turn. Breana Delaney decided to bet on her future like those before her did.
It’s funny but it seems only highly competitive kids are attracted to SJV. The kids who attend SJV don’t ask who plays their position? How many seniors are graduating? Who is the star of the team? No, the kids who attend SJV know it about being the best basketball player and teammate you can be. They know SJV is about putting your best foot forward, being in the lion’s den. Breana Delaney knew when she attended SJV, it would be a process. She knew it would be a daily challenge to win playing time. But it would not be a challenge to improve. She knew practice at SJV everyday would means five months of a real investment into her basketball future. She knew that those practices would have way more value than any meaningless game against weak competition or worst five months of non competitive practices. Breana Delaney is seeing the big picture, the way so many other great SJV players in the past have. She is playing the long game.
It’s almost becoming a tradition at SJV. In a time when if a player is not starting as a freshman, scoring or winning post season meaningless awards by bloggers… they are looking for exit out the door. SJV is different, players like Breana Delaney knows the history of the program. For every Kelly Campbell and Madison St.Rose who are mega stars from day one. There are far more Katie Hill’s, Christina Whitehead’s and Tina LeBron’s(Caldwell). Players who had to wait there turn, before stepping into the spotlight. Players who move on to D1 basketball or becomes stars in college like Tina LeBron or even mega stars like Julia Ramos at Drew University. You see kids like Breana Delaney and their parents do their homework and learn the history.. they educate themselves and it’s why their futures are so bright.
I have long said SJV players are always insanely successful in college. It’s no surprise Sarah Karpell is playing lights out at Fordham University. It should not come as a surprise. Sarah was in the SJV culture for 4 years, where practices were wars everyday. Her teams played the best competition, she saw plenty of great players before attending college. She was forced to improve or get exposed, it prepared her for college. This culture prepares all the SJV kids for college. It’s teaches them how to practice, it gives them a competitive nature and maybe most importantly it humbled a player. Makes them hungry. It turns a Ashley O’ Connor from a JV player to a D1 player. A Emma Bruen from a forgotten soul to a college coaches dream….and above all of course, SJV teaches kids how to win championships!…This is what Brianna Delaney is being gifted with🎁
The most important thing Breana Delaney is learning right now before she signs her DIVISION ONE scholarship one day( that’s a given too folks), is this…. Nothing is given and much is earned. Breana Delaney earned a SCT Ring yesterday and she earned it by given up the things in the big picture, that really don’t matter. She didn’t care about points, awards and social media attention. She will only cared about BEING THE BEST VERSION OF HERSELF. She took a big step in that direction when she decided to attend SJV…. and soon the name Breana Delaney will be mentioned like so many other SJV great players .. those rare kids who get it and understand, it’s always about trying to be your best👊
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