Jake Banfield '19 Recruiting Profile

I've always been one of the smallest players on the floor, but my parents taught me when I started playing in the first grade, not to ever let that take the place of my heart and competitiveness.   I'm a natural born leader, and I've been given the nickname "Little General," and most recently "The Creator."  My basketball skill and knowledge is well above average.   I have a high motor and I have been told on more than one occasion that my intensity and passion for the game I love, is obvious. 

Basketball runs deep in my DNA and it is what differentiates me from other recruits.  My father Bart Banfield played college basketball.  My grandfather Bob Banfield played for the legendary coach Eddie Sutton in high school at Tulsa Central.  My grandfather went on to become an All-American baseball player in college and was a member of the 1966 NAIA National Championship basketball team at Oklahoma Baptist University playing for another legendary coach Bob Bass, who later became an ABA & NBA Head Coach of the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs.  Both my father and grandfather used to coach at the varsity and college level.  My father was an Assistant Coach at St. Gregory's University.  My grandfather was a Graduate Assistant Coach for Eddie Sutton at Creighton University.  He later went on to become the Head Basketball Coach at the College of Southern Idaho, Arizona Western University, and Oklahoma Baptist University.

I am a Christian and my faith is very important to me.  I have grown up in church all my life.  I have two supportive parents who have invested a lot of time, travel, and money to help me follow my dream of playing basketball at the next level.  I'm a good student and take my education seriously.  I am coachable and respectful at all times,  My character is never in question.  I am a quick learner and I have never quit anything I've ever started.  I aspire to attend college and receive a Bachelor's Degree in History and become a basketball coach someday.

On every team I have ever been on, my coach has told me to be the leader.   My dream is to play college basketball, no matter what the stats say the average PG recruit's height is.  I feel like I can make up for my lack of size with my heart, skill, explosiveness, athletic ability and leadership.  I want to be challenged and compete against the best.    The author Mark Twain once said:  "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."  I am living proof.

#heartoverheight