Men’s Basketball Diary Pages

Men’s Basketball Diary Pages

The men’s basketball program has introduced a new series this season called “Men’s Basketball Diary Pages”, which features freshman guard, Jahbril Price-Noel, as he expresses his thoughts on adapting to life as a Pacific student-athlete. See below for his first 2 pages and be sure to follow along on PacificTigers.com for his next pages.

DEAR SUMMER

By: Jahbril Price-Noel

Nervous to start my journey. I board a plane from Toronto to Sacramento to start off my college journey all alone. Although this isn’t my first time being alone and heading to a desired destination, this one-way ticket symbolizes a blank road, a fresh start, and the ability to determine my final destination in life. I have control over which path I choose on and off of the court. I have the power to make decisions and develop habits that can change my life for the better, whether that be by bouncing a ball or putting ink to paper. As big of a step as this is for me, I am not discouraged at all. I know that I have a great supporting cast in my family, friends, coaches, and teammates, who I already consider to be my brothers.

Speaking of brothers, my teammates and I have been introduced to new definitions for the words “hard” and “work”. At first, it was Ajare and I sharing a townhouse apartment across the bridge, getting accustomed to our new everyday regimens. Now the whole team being here, everything is going at a much faster pace as the season approaches us. It is understood that we will not have the best practices everyday, but the main message that is being preached to us as a unit by the coaching staff is to get past our breaking points mentally and to always give our absolute best efforts in everything we do. To be truthful, we do have a lot of work to do before we become the team that we would like, but we are making great strides and are heading in the right direction.

As far as school goes, it has been a smooth transition so far. The difference between summer school and now is just the amount of people on campus. In the summer campus was empty. Now the parking lots are always filled, the cafeteria is packed here and there, and occasionally you get that one kid who is running to class because they know they’re late. Overall, the experience of being a freshman has been a good one to start and will only get better with time.

Yerrrrrrr,

Jahbril Price-Noel

GRATEFUL

By: Jahbril Price-Noel

Jay-Z once said “I know this game got valleys and peaks, expectation for dips,” and that’s what the full experience has been for me so far. This life of being a student-athlete has its valleys, days where you’re sore, tired, and mentally fatigued. It is very easy to give in and tap out, but you can’t. You have to remember your purpose, desires and aspirations. Those things are very important and give you that extra boost to get through the short days and long nights of the grind. Trust me, works every time. It is also important that you have brothers that help guide you and lift you up. That’s the type of teammates that I have. No one will fall because we are each others crutches. We need to have that bond, especially with the season quickly approaching on us.

Practice has become more intense now that we are officially considered to be in season. This means more soaking in of knowledge and more commitment to getting better as a unit. It’s pretty exciting if you ask me. For me personally, this has been something that I have been dreaming about my whole life.

Sometimes I catch myself while thinking and realize that I’m grateful to be in the position that I am in. I know of people who would scratch and claw with empty pockets just to get to California, let alone be a Division I student-athlete. Just to be able to say that I’m getting a free education and playing the game I love at the same time is such a gratifying thing.

As for an update on the team, I’m sure people are itching to hear, but I don’t like spilling the beans. I could state the obvious and inform you on things like Berties jumping ability, but that’s like asking if birds fly. It’s a well known fact. What I will say is that the returners have definitely enhanced their games and the newcomers are bring exciting elements to the team this year. Put all that together, and it’ll be a pleasure to watch.

Roc-A-Fella y’all …..,

Jahbril