Courtesy of Craig Moyer at The Daily Reflector (link)
Jude Wisman-Raven is a senior on the John Paul II Catholic School’s boys’ basketball team.
He recently signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his education and basketball career at Ramapo College of New Jersey.
The Roadrunners are a Division III program competing in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
Wisman-Raven led the Saints in his senior campaign with 23.1 points per game behind 72 made 3-pointers. He spoke with Reflector prep sports writer Craig Moyer about his decision to commit to Ramapo, his future plans and where his love for the sport originated.
Q: What does signing to Ramapo College mean to you?
A: It means everything, my whole life, basketball has been my first love. I’ve always wanted to play college ball and pursue an education while playing the sport that I love, so it really means everything to me.
Q: Why did you choose Ramapo?
A: I chose Ramapo for several different reasons. Coach (Chuck) McBreen has done nothing short of the best at recruiting me. He did everything he could to make sure all of my wants were met. Also, Ramapo has very strong academics, especially the business program which I’m going into and I really look forward to that. Ramapo also has a very successful basketball program.
Q: Do you plan to go into any specific part of the business program?
A: As of right now I’m going to focus on finance. It always just sparked an interest in me, so that’s the path I’m headed on right now.
Q: What would you hope to do with your degree?
A: I’ve always been interested in the stock market, so I’d really like to learn how to work that and be successful in that area. Another thing I’d like to do eventually down the road is get into some type of realty, selling houses and stuff like that.
Q: Why did you choose that career path?
A: I’ve just done research of my own and I’m just interested in it and think I would do well in that area.
Q: Did you ever have trouble balancing academics and athletics?
A:Â No, well I knew I would never be able to play basketball if I did not have good grades because of my mom. She is very strict on grades and I have her to thank for that because as it turns out, I definitely needed those good grades in the end, no matter how ridiculous I thought it was at the time, it really helped me in the long run.
Q: What other schools were you considering?
A: Another was West Virginia Wesleyan, a D-II program near Morgantown. I had an offer from them and it was a good school and a good opportunity, but I’m really happy with my decision with Ramapo.
Q: Will it be a challenge for you going so far to New Jersey for school?
A: Yeah it’s going to be tough because I’ve met a lot of people here that I really love and I’ve grown close to and of course my family more than anything I am going to miss and it’s going to be hard being so far away from them. I do think this is the best opportunity for me and I’m happy to take advantage of it.
Q: At what age did you start playing basketball?
A: I’ve been playing my whole life, since I was three years old, my dad got me into it.
Q: Did your dad play basketball as well?
A: Yeah my dad played in high school and he was a good basketball player from what I hear. He loved the sport and he just transferred that to me. He taught me most of what I know and still to this day after every game he tells me how I did. Every time I want to go to the gym, he’s the first one to say he’ll come with me and he’s been my number one supporter through all of this as well as my mom.
Q: What is your favorite thing about the sport?
A:Â Basketball is really a home away from home. When school or things are tough, like when my family moved from out of state and was really hard for me, basketball was there for me and always has been my whole life.
Q: What is your favorite basketball memory?
A:Â It would have to be this past season when I played against Wayne Christian. I had my career best game by far with 45 points. Everything I threw up just somehow fell and I just felt really good about myself after.
Q: Where have you lived in the past?
A:Â I used to live in West Virginia and moved within West Virginia twice and then moved here after my junior year of high school and that was definitely the most difficult one.
Q: What was it like transferring in to John Paul II?
A:Â It seemed impossible to walk in as a senior and have a good spot on a team and have respect from your coaches and everything as a one-year player. Coach (Ralph) Biggs my head coach, Coach (Sean) Murphy the AD and my assistant coaches all treated me with the most respect and welcomed me into the program. I could not have asked for better coaches for my senior year and they made the transition pretty effortless.
Q: Who is your favorite basketball player, and why?
A: I’m a big Kevin Durant fan, he’s absolutely unguardable. This year he did not have success in the playoffs, but he has that kind of game where he’s going to do what he can to help his team win.
Q: What advice would you offer to younger athletes?
A: The number one thing is no matter where you feel like you are, no matter how you just played or how much you played in a game, you can’t give up. You’ve just got to keep working, you can’t ever let up and just keep getting into the gym and getting shots up.
