It’s seems to me Julia Karpell has been around forever. That’s because she has watched her mother’s SJV team play her entire life. She has seen more winning perhaps than any kid in the history of High School basketball. That’s no exaggeration. She has seen star players, role players, players develop. She has seen the best players in the country. She has seen what real athletic pressure looks like. She also has seen the reward for all this. She has watched the smiles of all the SJV players who have gone off to play college basketball. JULIA KARPELL will now be one of those kids as she has decided FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY will be her next home.
Julia Karpell knows what pressure looks and feels like. She saw her older sister Sarah be held to an unreasonable standard in high school. Then had to walk in her footsteps. She watched as her mother DAWN was expected to win every game her SJV team played in. Then be hard on her every step of the way. It’s part of the deal when your name is Karpell. Just like when I would call her Sarah by mistake over and over. So much Rider Coach Lynn Milligan send to me one day “Jesus Tiny, isn’t they enough pressure on that kid”. The funny part of all this? It’s never felt Juila Karpell ever felt pressure or at least she never showed it. You have never seen panic or desperation on her face. It seems nothing can rattle Julia Karpell. She has always been under control. It just may be the reason, no player I have ever seen in one season as she did, hit more bIg shots than Julia Karpell. No player in all my years scored more meaningful buckets during the year. That’s because no player has ever more prepared to handle the pressure and expectations that JULIA KARPELL had to face.
When I think of Julia Karpell, I never will forget a Seton Hall asst coach at ACADEMIC Elite saying to me “Julia Karpell is adding a lot of tools to her game, her bad is getting deep” this was the summer of her freshman year. You see over the years Julia Karpell, has gotten better and better. Now you may say, it’s because of her mother, you may say it’s because she works so hard. Maybe you believe it because of the tough competition she has face all her life. This may all be true. But I believe that fact of the matter is, Julia Karpell is just smarter than everyone else. In fact no players in recent years has been asked to do so much and prepare to do so much. I remember when she went to play for AAU team, just to become a better ball handler. That’s because she needed to learn how to play point guard as well as shooting guard. You see nobody gave much thought to when Zoe Brooks went out or when SJV faced elite pressure. It was Julia Karpell who ran the SJV office. See she has been preparing for these moments her entire life. It makes me think about how for years, people tired to put her in a box as just a shooter. She refused to let them. She became the best post passer on planet earth. She became a next level rebounding guard. JULIA KARPELL has lived up to anyone’s wildest expectations for on reason….SHE’S JUST BEEN SMARTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE along the way.
I love players with a mental and physical toughness. I love kids that are leaders and willing to hold those around them accountable. Real leaders lead vocally and by their actions. Julia took full control of her SJV team this year. She stepped out in front and showed her teammates what it takes to be a leader and hold others to the SJV standard created over years. That’s what winners do, Julia Karpell is one of the biggest winners ever. Her toughness and leadership skills are simply off the page. That’s because she can take the heat from her mother, who reminds her nothing is given and all is earned, Julia Karpell has earned everything and more. She can take the staring eyes from teammates, media and outsiders who critique her every more. She knows the standard is different. She knows everything she does is watched carefully. It has never bothered her and she has embraced it. It’s why everyone respects her. She has never ever allowed her name to define her… SHE LET HER GAME DO THIS. She has never let us know if she was feeling pressure of not. She just let us know, she didn’t like losing . She didn’t like not giving you her best; game in and game out. She has always expected more from herself and teammates. I honestly wonder if FAIRFIELD really understands how lucky they are?
So FAIRFIELD gets Julia Karpell. She is the best wing player in the Shore Conference by a million miles. Just trust me when I tell you this. It’s not even close. You watch Julia Karpell on tape and your jaw drops. Please don’t embarrass any kid by comparing them to Julia Karpell; don’t do it. FAIRFIELD is going to add a player with a competitive nature like they can’t believe. They are going to add a player that will get better everyday and elevate their practices. They will add a player that will make everyone around her better and always will be reliable. They will add a player who has played against the best players in the country. A player who will have no adjustment to the speed or pace of play. FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY is getting a winner. A player who will be prepared from day one. A player who will help win chips.
CONGRATS TO FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY ON GETTING THE SMARTEST PLAYER THRSE EYES HAS SEEN…JULIA KARPELL👏👏👏🌈