DEMONS “WORK HARD, PLAY HARD” WITH LOBO RECRUIT IN LINEUP
Basketball practice is underway and there’s a buzz at Santa Fe High School.
“We’re very excited J.P., we are going into our third year here with our coaching staff and there’s a big buzz and we want the boys to embrace it,” said head coach Zack Cole. “We say ‘work hard, play hard’. We’ve got a hungry bunch of guys. We have a good balance of experience, in terms of senior leadership, and we have some talented young kids.”
One of those young kids is 6’6” sophomore Fedonta “JB” White.
“He’s just taking off,” said Cole. “The sky is the limit for him. Last year at this time he was about 6’2” and weighed about 10-15 pounds less. He hadn’t caught up to his growth spurt, but he grew about four more inches and put on about 10-plus pounds of muscle and his coordination is coming into play.”
“He’s one of my favorites to play with,” said senior Antonio Lovato. “He’s just a really good guy. He’s always looking for the next person and can score when he wants and he’s just a good teammate all around.”
White made quite the impression at a Lobo basketball camp this summer. University of New Mexico men’s basketball coach Paul Weir was so impressed with White’s game he offered him a scholarship.
“It was one of the greatest things to happen to me,” described the sophomore standout. “Every kid dreams of getting his first offer. When I went into the camp I was determined to do good and coach Weir offered me. It was pretty exciting.”
White has also received a scholarship off from Utah.
The Demons haven’t won a state title since 1978, but with a weapon like White, who knows how far this group can go.
“We’re trying to come home with the blue trophy at the end of the day. We’ve just been grinding. We’ve been here in the weight room and we all want to get better and we just want to win. So, I feel like we just might have a chance.”
“We always say, ‘you get to the Pit and funny things happen’. Our goal is to host a first-round playoff game, obviously finish at the top of our district, host a playoff game and get to the Pit and try to have fun and make as big of a run as we possibly can.”
The Demons start the season against Pojoaque at the Al Amendariz Classic at Capital High School on November 29th.
