On January 21, 2010, a group of 10 sophomores came together in room 234 after school for the 2nd annual Jesuit Basketball Developmental League Draft (JBDL).
The JBDL is a Jesuit intramural league for freshmen and sophomores who may not be good enough or serious enough to be a part of the highly competitive school team, but still want a competitive league where they can play basketball against their peers and have fun. Similar to the more competitive Jesuit Basketball Association (JBA), which is composed mainly of Juniors and Seniors and other students good enough to play, the JBDL is also 4 on 4 basketball that plays every Sunday afternoon, with the exception of holidays. Its 10 teams participate in league playoffs to determine the champion sometime in April. However, unlike the JBA, only 1 faculty member per team can play in the JBDL. After a very successful 2009-2010 year, in which Davis Bittner’s ’13 team won the championship, the JBDL draft brought excitement, disappointment, and anticipation for the new season. Science teacher and JBDL Commissioner Ben Kirby predicted: “Bittner will trade the top pick for player(s) from other teams since returning managers can keep players from the previous year. That makes the draft pool less appealing.” Before balloting day some of those on the draft ballot were asked when they thought they would be drafted. Caleb Kunasek’13 responded, “I have no idea, to be honest.” He was later kept by his owner from the previous year, escaping the draft. McCall Casey’13 felt more confident believing he would be drafted “first or second round, definitely.” Kasey was also kept by his previous year owner.
With ESPN’s theme music pounding in the background, Mr. Kirby first covered rules, procedures, and guidelines. As well, he asked the owners if they wanted to allow faculty members on their teams. Although not allowed last year, the owners voted unanimously for 1 faculty member per team. Then, the owners who had owned a team last year were able to “reclaim” a maximum of 3 players from their old teams. The previous owners took full advantage of this as Davis Bittner reclaimed players Brian Christensen ’13, Zach Coker ’13, and Chris Hernandez ’13, all integral parts of his championship team of last year. Andrew Frank ’13 and his team reclaimed Garrett Stanford ’13 and McCall Casey ’13, both solid forwards, in their pursuit of a championship. Saqib Nayani ’13 reclaimed Jordan Mastrogiovanni ’13, considered to be one of the best players in the draft. So, while the teams may have some new faces, for the most part, the key players were retained by their old teams, making the season interesting while still keeping some of the faces of old, sparking revenge on the parts of teams from last year and fueling the flames for those other unsuccessful teams to come back against Bittner’s championship team.
As the teams actually started picking players from the pool, in a draft selection order determined randomly by math teacher Ken Howell, the teams began to take shape. Surprisingly, only 7 of the 55 participants were freshmen, and the first round was dominated by all sophomores, including Luke John Nolan ‘13, Jack Brezette ‘13, Jack Brewer ‘13, Will Cormier ‘13, Matt Yzaguirre ‘13 and Alec Sellik ’13, the first pick of the draft. By the end of the draft, each team had at least 4 players and now have until the 2nd week of play to pick up free agents, those who didn’t sign up for the JBDL on Moodle, but still wish to play.
Tension began to take hold immediately afterwards, as owner Andrew Frank, clearly impressed with his performance in the draft and confident in his new team, quietly remarked, “It’s already over,” with a team full of talent in players Garrett Stanford ’13, Evan English ’13, McCall Casey ’13, Corey Johnson ’13 and somewhat of a wild-card pick John Michael Lucido ’14, a freshman eager to prove his skills on the court. While this team faces fierce opposition from a collection of many talented teams and players, his perhaps over confidence is a meter of the excitement and fierce competition to come. Everything is shaping up to be a fantastic season with winners receiving a championship trophy, tickets to the Maverick’s season finale, and championship rings
