Hello Basketball World, Jalen “Young One” Henriquez
My name is Jalen Henriquez, I’m 13 years old, class of 2014. I am currently a student at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, one of the top private schools in New Jersey. I am a student athlete. I think I am a strong mix of a student and basketball player. This year I am taking my training to the next level as I prepare myself for the up coming AAU season. I am also in the process of determining where I will attend high school next year. The school I am looking for needs to have a good balance of academics and a competitive basketball program. I have narrowed my list down to nine high schools, three of them being prep boarding schools. Some of the local basketball powerhouses that I am considering are not as strong academically as my parents would like, but have a strong basketball program. This decision is like any other important decision that needs to be made. My strategy is that I will take it one step at a time. I guess this is preparing me for the college experience.
I play for an AAU basketball team called the Gym Ratz. The name pretty much says it all. We are always in the gym no matter what. I’ve been playing for this team and Coach Ozzie for about seven years. If you know him you’d know he is a no non-sense coach. At 12 years old I played point guard for the Gym Ratz and our team won the 2008 NJ Division II 14U State Championship. We had a very successful year finishing top 20 at Nationals in Orlando Florida. This year we finished fourth in the state for Division I. Due to key injuries we didn’t get a chance to return to Orlando. For the last few months I also have been playing for Team Scan out of The Bronx, NY. Terrance “Munch” Williams is the coach and we did very good for being a first year program. Playing for Scan is a lot of fun because for the first time in my basketball career I get to play in my own age group.
This coming up year will be challenging. I have four fall tournaments with Team Scan. My AAU season with the Gym Ratz started in the spring and I will be attending a couple of exposure events including the Adidas 150 Camps in San Diego, CA this summer. Although I am in middle school my Gym Ratz teammates will have their high schools seasons coming up. This benefits me because I can play with them at the high school level and get prepared for next year’s high school season.
This past weekend I worked out with a few of my Gym Ratz Teammates (Wes Dickinson, Christian Orozco and Robert Zeller) at the high school they attend. After working out we went to see the premiere of the Lebron James Movie, “More Than a Game”. It is a great movie and it inspired me to work hard and stay focused.
I would like to thank my family, friends and God for all their support. Also I would like to thank my coaches for preparing me for this opportunity. Finally, I would like to take a moment to thank Mike Melton for this honor of being involved with Diary Of A Baller.
Young One…. Out
