Tell everyone about yourself?
I'm Michael King. I'm a 5'11 Sophomore Point Guard/Shooting Guard from Dallas, Texas that goes to Horn High School and plays for Texas Select Elite. I started at Point Guard for Horn High School varsity as a sophomore this past year and made second team all district.
What was your best game?
My best game this year was in AAU against Texas Blue Chips. I finished with 26 points along with a team effort for the win. I was 6 for 7 from threes.
Why are sports/education important to you?
Sports and education are very important to me. If you can play basketball all day, and don't have the grades its useless. School comes first. An education is the most important thing in life.
What can you do to make yourself better in your sport?
To make myself a better basketball player, I can focus more on my weaknesses and less on my strengths. I can study older players, and just work harder everyday. Take no days off. I have to listen to my mentors. My AAU Coach (Coach Pat, and Coach Mason) and my father (Wade Smith).
What is your dream college?
I don't really have a dream college. I Just want to go wherever I get a scholarship, where ever god takes me. Although I have my eye on a few colleges: Baylor, UCLA, and Texas Teach.
If a College Coach ask you, how can you make our team better, what would you say?
I will do anything he wants me to do. I'd play defense, I'd do all the little things the average player doesn't. Anybody can score, I like to separate myself and do the things others wouldn't do.
What advice can you give other student-athletes?
Stay in school and put your grades first. When it comes to the court, work hard everyday. Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something. Remember, while you're resting someone else is out there working hard.
Send a shout out to SoSportz:
Shoutout to SoSportz! Thanks for having me, keep an eye out for me in the future.
Tell everyone about yourself? I am a freshman at Belmont Hill in Belmont, Massachusetts. My favorite sport is Basketball and I can play any position really. I find myself playing more of a small forward in the future, because of my height
What was your best game? My best game was against the Rectory School from Connecticut. Even though we lost, I stepped up to the occasion and helped my team to step up as well.
Why are sports/education important to you? I have been playing basketball since I was 7 years old in any leagues or on any organized team I could find. education is my top priority because I go to a school that expects a lot from a student, so I have to perform in the classroom as well.
What can you do to make yourself better in your sport? To make my self better, to get to that goal, the pinnacle I feel I must work at it all the time, give it my all on every possession and strive for victory at all costs.
What is your dream college? My dream college is UCLA because of the history as a basketball school. They have the most national championships and had a lot of them consecutively. Also because of the Law program, because that interests me as well.
If a College Coach ask you, how can you make our team better, what would you say? Anything they need me to do. On a team you are a family, you can call on your family for anything. Their faults are my faults, and we need to fix them if we want to play better as a team.
What advice can you give other student-athletes? I would say to any kid who wants to be a collegiate athlete you have to put the book over the ball at all times. You may be in school playing basketball but you're there to be a student too.
Send a shout out to SoSportz: Shout out to SoSportz..... Yea Buddy !
Tell everyone about yourself? My name is Keith Moore I am 17 years old and I am currently a junior. I attend Cass Tech High School in Detroit, Michigan. My short term goals are to win a state championship, become better as a football player(while making my team better), and to continue to get good grades in school. My long term goals are going to college and getting a degree, play college ball, and play in the NFL. I have been playing quarterback since I was 8 years old for the Westside Cubs and I fell in love with the sport ever since I saw my father coach it. I made the All-City, the All-Metro, and All-Detroit team last year. I also made the offensive team at the National Junior All-American Camp in January. That's just a little bit about me.
What was your best game?
My best game was in the first round in the state playoffs against Dearborn Fordson. We were down at halftime 24-3 and in the second half me and my teammates stepped up and pulled an upset which we won 24-23. I threw for 227 yards in this game and had 3 passing TD's. The team was 9-0 and we were 5-3 so we were the underdogs. It was the best game we played all year and it couldn't have came at a better time. It was something to remember!
Why are sports/education important to you? Education is important to me because I know I can't get anywhere in life without it. I have a overall 3.3 g.p.a. Having education can help you with a lot later on in life and it also gives you knowledge. Everyone wants to make money by being a NBA or NFL player but they don't realize that you can't play sports your entire life. At some point you won't be athletic enough to do a lot of things you can do now but you will always have the opportunity to get a job. Sports are important to me because it keeps me occupied. Living in Detroit, its easy to get into trouble but playing football is keeping me out of trouble due to the fact it's taking up a lot of my time.
What can you do to make yourself better in your sport? What I do to make myself better as a football player is practice,practice,practice. I workout everyday and I go hard at what I do. I also surround myself with people that are just as serious as I am about football just to make stuff fun. I never doubt myself neither. I always tell myself I can do something or at least try it. If you tell yourself you can't do something, you make yourself weak.
What is your dream college? I don't really have a dream college but I remember when I was a kid I always liked The University of Miami. The colleges I am interested in now are Iowa, Boise State, Michigan State, Syracuse, Illinois, Oregon, and the University of Michigan. I will choose a college based on the majors, the coaches, pro potential, and also the school in which I will have a chance to get on the field and play early.
If a College Coach ask you, how can you make our team better, what would you say? If a college coach was to ask me that I would say working hard and being a leader and pushing my teammates. I say that because when your teammates see you working hard and trying to get better, they will follow and want to get better with you. A team is only good if they work together at everything they do.
What advice can you give other student-athletes? I would say stay focused, stay out of trouble, and work hard at everything you do. Also keep you God, Grades, and Family before everything. Those are the most important things in your life. Sports is something that is secondary.
Send a shout out to SoSportz: Shout out to SoSportz for featuring me in this article. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot and hope to be see you in the future.
Tell everyone about yourself?
I am Kahlil Dukes, I am a fourteen year old freshman at Capital Prep in Hartford, Connecticut. I strive to be the best basketball player I can be and I take pride in putting work in the gym, classroom, and hopefully seeing it pay off when grades come out and when its time to perform on the basketball court. I been playing basketball since I was born and I made my first basket at the age of three. I play AAU for the Connecticut Basketball Club (CBC) and of course my high school, Capital Prep.
I lead the state in scoring this year (29.1ppg) and all freshman in the nation. I got first team All State honors recently and I got first team all conference. So hopefully, I get a state championship next year. My plan is to make it to the NBA and then its a new beginning. Then hopefully I have Hall of Fame dreams and more.
What was your best game?
.
My best game for me this year was probably against Windham Tech in Willimantic, Connecticut. I finish the game with 34 points and 12 assists, and a few steals I remember. It was a team effort though because my teammates finished the best all season that night, and two other players had over 20 points. We won 112-104 I think and that was our last season game before the playoffs.
How does it feel to be All-State as a freshman?
All State as a freshman feels real good. All year I had doubters and criticism that I had to manage and play through. I also had a lot of expectations for myself that I set to reach, and other people had expectations for me as well. Somehow I found it in myself to lead our team to the state tournament quarter finals as a freshman and lead the state in scoring. I finish the season w/ 669 points (29.1ppg) and I average 3 assists a game. I faced a lot of box and ones and different defenses all season, in the quarter finals I actually faced a 1-1-3 which I never seen or heard of. But really I just wanted to learn as much as I could, play every game like it was my last because I wanted to be remembered, and now, I can call myself an All Stater.
Why are sports/education important to you?
Education and sports are important to me because they both help me eventually become a professional at what I am blessed at, and that's basketball. Without education, you cannot make it to college. Without college you cannot make the money you need to live a dream. And without money, you cant live at all. Money rules the world, so I try to stay up on my grades and stay in the gym working on my game to get that big time scholarship I am after. Right now my GPA is 3.5 so I'm trying to maintain that or keep it somewhere around there so that I am not nervous when it comes to SATs. And as far as basketball, all I got to do is keep the mentality I have and everything hopefully will go the way I planned. I also pray a lot for those two things to be successful so I guess that's why I'm doing so well so far in my high school career. Just got to keep it going, never sleep, consistency was my favorite word my whole freshman year and it always will be.
What can you do to make yourself a better point guard?
Well to make myself a better point guard I could do a list of things:
1) I could surround myself by a group of guys who are great point guards or great models as point guards to look up to.
2) I could work HARDER on the fundamentals that are to be mastered by a point guard and focus on those for a few months to a year.
3) I could learn from a premier point guard coach. Like a Calipari (Kentucky Head Coach) or a Coach K (Duke). I also believe more in myself, potentially speaking. So I think the work I can push myself to put in will also better the outcome of becoming a better point guard. And simply learning from mistakes I make on the basketball court, and being a vocal leader.
What is your dream college?
I don't necessarily have a dream college but I am considering Duke, UNC, UConn, and Syracuse for big time. For little school but big conference I'd like to go to Baylor, Marquette, Florida, Butler or UCLA. For me its about the coach, basketball history or tradition of the school, and if I'm gonna be able to come into the system and play early. Other then that, I still need to do a little more research on schools and stuff like majoring. I think I wanna major in marketing, right now I'm considering that. But I still have a lot of time so we'll see.
What advice can you give other student-athletes?
Well for other student athletes, I can only say do what you gotta do and take pride in what you do. I think a lot of players get too big headed, too cocky, too satisfied, and too irresponsible. Sometimes I am even some of those but I try not to be and I have a lot of friends, family, and coaches that help me with being humble and things like that. As an athlete you have to understand that there two things, obstacles and competition.
Obstacles are the bad part, competition is the good part. Playing against someone who is trying to make it to the same place as you is great. There's no reason to be scared or worried that they might show you off. Its a game, somebody wins and somebody loses. You have to have a certain mentality, swagger, and personality about yourself. Go hard in every practice, game, and be smart in the classroom and on the court. Knowledge does anybody well no matter what sport you play or what you do. Try to learn from mistakes. Try to be the best player, student, and person you can be. It is a privilege to play sports, just enjoy yourself and have fun. Meet new people but be careful. Some people you can't trust. If your really talented, some people will try and trick you. Its a dirty game, and its a business. You just got to be smart with everything you do, say, wear, and who you hang around. When its time to perform on the court, field, gridiron, or whatever, then put on a show. When your doing work and you don't feel like it, just remember your trying to make it. Get it done, and do what you gotta do, and you will be successful as a student athlete no matter what sport you play.
Send a shout out to SoSportz:
Shoutout to SoSportz for supporting me all season during my freshman year. Definitely a good program and nice to meet new kids and athletes with the same dreams as us all and be one nation trying to make it to the next level playing sports for a living. Thanks.
Tell everyone about yourself? I'm Pierre Hayden, I'm a 5'8 Point Guard from Dallas, Texas who goes to Royse City High School and plays for the LBA Seawolves.
What was your best game? My best game was this year against Frisco Wakeland High School I had 21 points in the first half and finished with 34 points in a loss. They were pretty good.
Why are sports/education important to you? Sports and education are very important to me. Let basketball use you, don't use basketball. An education is the most important thing in life. Especially mines, I put education first. I carry a 3.4 GPA as of now.
What can you do to make yourself better in your sport? To make myself better, I can study other players who are older than me and work hard everyday. I have to listen to my mentors, my father, my uncle (AAU coach), older brother Perry Jones (number 9 player in the nation in 2010 class), and godbrother Lacedarius Dunn (Baylor basketball player)
What is your dream college? I really don't have a dream college. I'm being recruited by a lot of schools so whoever wants me I will go there. I want to go a school who's known for winning, producing good players, and a place I can come right in and play. Just basically where God leads me.
If a College Coach ask you, how can you make our team better, what would you say? If a coach asked me what I could do to make his team better, I'd respond with anything he needs me to do. I will play D and do all of the little things that need to be done to win. In college anyone can score so I know I have to do something a lot of people do not do. I have to seperate myself from the others.
What advice can you give other student-athletes? Some advice I can give to student-athletes is to always stay in the books. School is important. Sports will always be there, if sports don't work out you have to have something to fall back on. And for the athlete part, continue to work hard everyday. Never give up and never let anyone tell you what you can't be. Have a dream and go get it. Be humble and hungry.
Send a shout out to SoSportz: Big shoutouts to SoSportz!!!! I really appreciate you having me on the site. Keep an eye on me this year! God Bless.
Tell everyone about yourself? My name is Nicholas Smoak. I'm from Orangeburg, South Carolina and I play football for Orangeburg Wilkinson High School. I have a 4.0 G.P.A. and scored 24 on the ACT. My maxes are; Squat(485) Bench(405) Hang Clean (240). I am the strongest player on my team and I'm the 2nd person in school history to bench 400lbs. I'm featured on espn and several other websites. Currently I'm drawing interest from Harvard, Penn, Charleston Southern, Presbyterian, Army, Navy, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Upstate Greenville, and several other small colleges.
What was your best game? My best game this year was against Lake Marion High School. I probably have 9 clips of that game on my highlight tape. I averaged 12 pancakes and allowed 0 sacks or tackles.
Why are sports/education important to you? They allow me to improve myself. They also provide me with an opportunity to earn a free education.
What can you do to make yourself better in your sport? To make myself better i will have to work on my speed. That is really my only weak point.
What is your dream college? My dream is to play for Florida and win a National Championship. Ever since I 1st began watching and playing football in the 9th grade this has been my dream.
If a College Coach ask you, how can you make our team better, what would you say? I'm going to help you win games and become a champion. I'll provide leadership in the locker room and on the field. I'll give you my best effort day in and day out. Most importantly I'll sacrifice my body for you. I'll keep going until every bone in my body is broken.
What advice can you give other student-athletes? As far as advice goes, never quit. Football is a tough sport and if your not strong mentally you will fail. Everyone has thought about quiting from time to time, including myself. My only advice is to fight through the pain and keep going. You never know where it will take you.
Send a shout out to SoSportz: Thanks for everything. I appreciate the effort and potential to be recognized
Tell everyone about yourself?
Tell everyone about yourself?
