How I got on the Arts Basketball Team

Kobe

Hi, my name is Kaleab Jarrett. I’m a junior at the Buffalo Arts Academy and a Varsity player on the Arts basketball team. I wanted to talk about my experience on this team. Let’s go way back to my 8th-grade year when I was a student at Lydia T Wright. I thought I was ready to play on a basketball team so I went to tryouts and I did terribly. I couldn’t make shots, do layups, dribble; I was a mess but I still had hope that I could make it on the team. Well I didn’t, and I'm not gonna lie it hurt but I used that hurt to push myself to become better.

Every day after school I would go outside and practice my layups, jump shot, and dribbling. I would watch Kobe, Curry, Lebron, Harden, KD and many other players. I would slowly practice their moves, learn them and use them against other people.

KD

Lebron 

Then I had a big growth spurt. I was 5’5 going into 8th grade and grew to 5’10 by the time entering 9th grade. The height definitely helps with basketball ( you don’t need to be tall to be good at basketball btw).

Kaleab, Jayquan, Corey - First Day Wearing JV Jerseys

Steph Curry

James Harden

Anyway, I just kept practicing and picked up lacrosse, which helped my strength and speed. Then I had another growth spurt and now I'm 6’3.

Going into high school is hard especially when you’re trying out for a new team in which you have no experience knowing what being on a team feels like. Tryouts came and I did my best. I did everything I was told; I made layups and my jump shot was hitting everything. I practiced, and everything I did paid off and I made the team.

My first day of being on the new team, I must say, was very fun and funny meeting new people with the same hobby and dreams. This made me want to go even further but I must say it wasn’t easy. My first year of basketball, we didn’t win a game and it kinda woke me up a little. If my best wasn’t enough and if my best was my all, then I was in trouble. Knowing that, I pushed myself even harder.

My sophomore year came and once again I made the team but I was soon to realize I was starting. I was the only big man so I had a big task to pull we didn’t really have a bench so I had to play full quarters with no break at times. I used to wonder, why this is so hard? But then I realized this is what I wanted so I didn’t complain. We finished the year with a winning record of 6-5, then I was pulled to varsity for the playoffs.

I was just excited to finally be making it. If you would have told me in 8th grade that I would be 6’3 with a starting spot on the basketball team I wouldn’t believe you. But that shows you that if you push yourself you can do great things and I plan to keep pushing myself until I become the best player I can be.

If you have any question please feel free to comment