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02/01/2017 11:00 PMJeremiah Cureton is in his fourth season with the East Haven boys’ basketball team and has grown into the emotional leader of the squad. On each and every play, Jeremiah makes his teammates his top priority. Jeremiah has always played the point guard position and uses his passing skills to constantly keep his fellow Easties involved.
“I grew and became a more vocal leader. It gets the other players involved in the game and I always try to get them to score first,” Jeremiah says. “Either dishing it down low or kicking it out to my open three-point shooters, I’m always looking to make the pass.”
Jeremiah had a thirst to lead the Yellowjackets and his desire was rewarded with him earning a captain’s role for this season. It’s a position that Jeremiah welcomed with open arms.
“I was pretty excited. I was shocked, but I worked hard to get that position. As soon as I got that role, I knew there’d be a lot of pressure and expectations,” says Jeremiah. “Coach told me to stop being the nice guy and be more aggressive with my teammates, which has helped me in certain situations.”
Jeremiah feels that playing the point while leading the Yellowjackets as a captain are two responsibilities that go hand in hand.
“It shows that you can’t always be selfish,” he says. “It enables me to be a better leader than looking for myself to score. If you do that, it may look like you’re forcing bad shots. Being a leader to me is about not being selfish.”
Head Coach Ricky Narracci loves having Jeremiah as a member of his team and applauds his athlete’s attitude and approach to the game.
“He’s very coachable and he’s never made an excuse about anything in his four years. He works hard every day and, even though we’re struggling, he continues to show up every day and works as hard as if we were 10-0,” says Narracci. “He’s a very good athlete in terms of his physical attributes. He’s strong, has really good quickness, and has the ability to break people down off the dribble. The fact that he’s coachable and takes criticism well, he’s an easy person to coach. When I think back about the guys in the past that I’ve coached, years down the road, he’ll be one I remember.”
Jeremiah says that he actually likes any criticism he receives because he’s able to spin it into a positive for both himself and his squad.
“With me, I take criticism as the coach actually cares about me. It makes me stronger as a player,” say Jeremiah. “I take it into perspective that he wants me to be the best I can be. I don’t take it to heart. I make it a positive thing.”
Even though this season has been a tough one in the win-loss department, Jeremiah continues to make sure that the Easties stay upbeat.
“Every game we come in with a positive attitude,” Jeremiah says. “Technically we can beat any team, but there seems to always be a few quarters that kill us. Every day we work hard to prepare for the next team we play.”
Jeremiah says that some people doubted him during youth hoops because of his size, although he merely used that as fuel to motivate him throughout his career.
“I just have a passion for the game. It’s hard to explain. Being doubted because of my height made me put in the extra work. I’ve become stronger, a better free throw shooter, and I’ve been able to finish more at the basket,” says Jeremiah, who’s 5-foot-7. “My first step is a big thing for me. A lot of defenses collapse around me, which allows me to kick it out to my teammates to hit the wide open three.”