By Lisa Irambona
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Jermaine Samuels Jr.’s father bought him a little tikes basketball hoop when he was 2 years old and watched his son slam the ball over the rim on it like he does today on regulation hoops.
“I thought it was a fun sport. All I ever wanted to do was get the ball through the net when I was a kid. It didn’t matter how I scored it,” Jermaine Samuels Jr. recently recalled.
Most basketball players have a role model in the league to inspire them as a player. Samuel insists he looked inside for his motivation as a high school star, but also turned to his father in making his eventual decision to go to Villanova University, where he has excelled.
“Coach Wright and his entire staff made it feel like a family atmosphere,” said the elder Jermaine Samuels, referring to Villanova’s men’s basketball coach Jay Wright.
The 6-foot, 6-inch forward from Franklin, Massachusetts, experienced a journey that not many freshmen endure in their first season at Villanova. During the 2017-2018 season, he had a lot of ups and downs, such as learning to accept tough losses, winning big game, breaking his hand, and not always performing at his best.
Samuels’ average day is as long and draining as a Division I basketball player and college student.
He wakes up at 7 a.m. to get ready for an 8 a.m. lift at the Davis Center. “After lifts, we have to do required shots so we get our reps records through made, missed, and free throws,” Samuels said.
He’s in class from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. During that time, he has to be hydrating six to seven bottles a day (even more on game days).
The team has practice from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. He won’t get home until 7:30 p.m. because they have to shower, eat, and watch film to learn from their mistakes and get better.
“Meals on campus don’t even come close to home cooked meals. Meals at home are prepared with care and love,” Samuels said.
He broke his left hand during the regular season. “It was tough because I couldn’t even work out to work on my craft,” Samuels recounted. “I was able to be back on the court in January. I contributed through moral support and being a practice player during the playoff season.”
On April 2, Villanova beat Michigan 79-62 for their second National Championship in three years.
“Winning the national championship was one of the greatest moments of my life simply because of the experience, there’s nothing that comes close,” Samuels reminisced.
Many people would be surprised that he had another talent that wasn’t dunking over another player’s head.
“Dunking is like no other feeling,” he said. “There is a rush and an excitement that comes with it. It is just something you gotta experience honestly.”
Samuels’ other passion—art—also began when he was very young. He started drawing when he was 7 years old and hasn’t stopped since. He would experiment with it on his own and over time he became a natural and got better with it.
“If I wasn’t playing basketball, I would be doing something that revolves around art or videogame making, something definitely creative,” Samuels said.
“He has taught me to look at life in a more artistic fashion meaning to appreciate the minor details and noticing how those little things affect the overall picture so much,” teammate Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree said.
Art is a getaway from basketball for Jermaine because he does things his way and isn’t being critiqued as an artist.
“I have not attended any types of art shows or anything like that,” he said. “Art is just something I use personally to unwind and to escape from reality for a little bit. Purely therapeutic in a sense.”
Sophomore season 2018-2019 wasn’t as bright for Villanova and Samuels. “There was a lot of inconsistency. I had more playing time this season and during the crucial games in the Big East,” he said. “Not playing when I wanted to, having to reshaping my game based on what coach wants, and not going far in the tournament.”
During Summer 2019, Jermaine traveled to Peru to play for Team USA Pana-American games and only 15 players out of all college basketball were selected to represent. He was lucky to have his Villanova teammate and good friend Collin Gillespie along his side playing overseas.
“He had become another brother to me,” Gillespie said. “On the court, we push each other to be better. Off the court we like to relax and get our minds off of basketball.”
As Samuels’ junior year approaches, he’s eager to bring back Villanova another National Championship.
“I want to have a bigger role on the team this year,” he said. “I want
to hold more responsibility with the team as a leader because I’m older and
I’ve played longer.”