Athlete of the Month: Jeff Becker
January 25, 2010 • written by Ben Singh
The lights are on. The fans are ready. A Jay-Z song plays. The cheerleaders form a tunnel in front of the Boys Locker Room doors in the Main Gym. Wearing black and white sweatshirts with Holy Cross signs, the Boys Varsity Basketball Team storms out onto the court.
Amidst the team is a 3 year varsity player named Jeff Becker. He is giving the most high fives to his teammates, trying to excite them about the challenge that awaits them. He is eyeing his opponents with a calm but competitive look on his face.
Since the squad consists mostly of sophomores and juniors, Becker knows that by being a senior, he has the responsibility of being a leader placed on his shoulders.
Head coach, Vincent Encelan, sees a leadership quality in Becker. “He mostly leads by example but he is also the most vocal player on the team,” Encelan said.
Junior Justindeep Aulakh, the lengthy power forward, values the way in which Becker leads the team through example in times of struggle. “Any time during practice or during the game when we aren’t playing good, he’s not going to yell at us,” Aulakh said. “He’s gonna try to raise his level of play and in turn raise the team’s level of play.”
Junior Kris Okialda, point guard #20, Becker’s teammate, sees Becker’s leadership quality demonstrated in the preparation for games. “He leads by example during warm ups before the game, always keeping a serious face,” Okialda said. “He also gets really competitive, which makes the rest of our team play harder.”
In addition to being a leader, Becker is also known for being a supportive teammate.
“If you take a bad shot or you make a turnover, he will always pick you up and help you out when you are feeling down about your game,” Jonte said. “He’ll tell you some little things that you need to do better.”
Sophomore Chris Baca appreciates Becker’s willingness to help others on the team. “When I have something to ask, I can go to him and he’ll answer my question,” Baca said.
In addition to his support on the court, junior Brean Aquino sees the versatility in his game as a main contribution. “He can shoot, dribble, rebound, he can do a whole bunch of stuff,” Aquino said.
Becker’s dominant hand makes him a versatile basketball player. “First of all, he’s left handed that’s something you don’t see a lot in basketball,” Aulakh said.
Being left handed puts a player on offense at advantage because the defender is used to guarding right handed players and it can be tough for him to guard a left handed player.
Becker’s high school basketball career at Moreau has taught him the importance of teamwork on the court. “After playing a year on varsity, I realized that if we were going to be a successful high school team, we had to work as a team,” Becker said.
Becker has played Basketball outside of Moreau for leagues like NJB, CYO, and AAU.
Becker played Basketball from the sixth grade until sophomore year for AAU on a team called the Bay Area Wildcats. This experience developed his competitiveness and versatility on the court. “I played in higher age groups so I was playing against guys bigger, stronger, and faster,” Becker said. “I had to work hard to be able to compete with them.”
By playing with guys who were far more athletic and older than him, Becker learned the two keys of success in the game. “What I lacked in size and athleticism, I made up in heart and determination. I would be the first one on the ground if there was a loose ball,” Becker said.
While on the Wildcats, Becker had opportunities to play against the top players in the country, which have inspired Becker to improve as a basketball player. “It has allowed me to mature as a player playing against the best while also improving my game and having to bring it up to their level,” Becker said.
After sophomore year, Becker left the team in order to focus on playing football at Moreau in his junior year. Even though he had no prior experience in playing Football, Head Coach, Andrew Cotter, says Becker had a positive impact on his teammates. “When he came out his junior year, even though he was real young and never played before, he already had that leadership characteristic that people seem to follow him,” Cotter said.
Despite being a talented athlete and an exceptional leader, Becker remains humble when talking about the game. “I am a student of the game,” Becker said. “It all comes down to hard work and how bad you want to be great.”
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