Jake Bluestein '22 Recruiting Profile

When I was in elementary school, my father was the assistant coach of the varsity team at my school. Every day I would go with him to practice and shoot on the side hoops. Being in the gym with a ball and hoop for hours each day made me love the sport, and I started playing on a team when I was in 3rd grade. Since those days, basketball has been teaching me how to interact with teammates, how to get back up if I have fallen, and how to work hard. Winning the California Division III State Championship in 2019 was definitely a highlight of my high school career, but what I loved even more than winning was being a part of my team. I learned that it was the tough times during the year that were the most important because they taught us to persevere in the face of challenge and to pay careful attention to detail. It was through those times that our team became a family. My role in our championship success was small, as it was a senior-heavy team and I was only a freshman, but I am proud of how I excelled in that role. I always provided positive energy at practice and on the bench during games and I put in maximum effort during practice to help prepare the team for the next game. And when I got my opportunity, I took advantage of it. My ability to be the best I can in my role made a difference in our team’s success. Through that experience and through my commitment to getting better and stronger, I was able to successfully step up into a much larger role as a sophomore. That year, I lead my team in scoring, making 75 threes with a percentage over 38%. During that season I grew two inches and put on 25 pounds of muscle and was poised to make great strides in the offseason in areas I needed to develop like finishing in traffic and guarding multiple positions. Then, COVID hit.

The pandemic caused a massive disruption for everyone and led to a makeshift club season before my junior year. Unfortunately, in one of those games in October of 2020, I tore my left ACL. This injury and the surgery that came a month later, changed the course of my development a lot. I could not play at all for an entire year, missing my junior season and the club season between junior and senior year. Throughout that time, I concentrated on my recovery, but also served as a member of the coaching staff for the team. Viewing the game from the perspective of a coach really helped me grow my basketball IQ and understand better what is required from the team to win games. It was really difficult to sit an entire year, but I think I managed to find a way to use it to my benefit. This year I finally made it back on the floor and was named a captain of my team. The first half of the year was slow going as my body had to re-balance itself. Though I had a reduced role because of this, I continued to be a vocal leader and force of positive energy. About half-way through the season, I was able to better see all my hard work to get back produce better results and I helped my team reach the San Diego Section Division 1 Championship Game. We came up short in that game. I was disappointed but I was awarded the San Diego Division 1 Sportsmanship Award. I am very proud of the teams efforts this year and proud that I was a captain of a top ten team in San Diego. I know that still have catching up to do as I lost an entire year of development to my ACL injury, but I am confident in my ability and think I bring a lot to any team: great shooter, high IQ, positive leader, great teammate, coachable, understands roles and excels in them.

Academically, I have maintained GPA over 4.0 throughout my entire HS career. I am looking for a school that allows me to continue to strive for success both in the classroom and on the court, while being a place I can be myself, feel comfortable, find friends, develop a passion, and call home.