Gold Rush: Student Of The Game
2/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2003
By Sam Walker
Jamaal Levy did not come to the United States to play basketball. He came to get an education. Unlike many foreign-born players who have first distinguished themselves as basketball players, Levy's priority was to get the best education possible. Like many foreign-born players, basketball has been part of almost his entire life. Basketball, as it has turned out, is a fringe benefit that has made his American experience all the richer. The 6-9 forward grew up in his native country of Panama loving basketball. He says he has been playing ever since the age of 5. "When I was 5 or 6, I had a ball in my hands and started dribbling around the court," Levy said. "I just tried to play every chance I got and in every summer league." After attending his freshman year of high school in Panama, Levy left home and played his sophomore year for a high school in Costa Rica named Santa Cecilla. Still, he wanted a better educational experience, and through a summer league coach was given a connection, which led to an opportunity to attend Berkshire Academy in Homestead, Fla. He came to the United States solely as a student and didn't even inquire about playing for Berkshire until after he began his junior season.
"I came here to study, but when I got here, I asked the teachers about basketball so I tried out and made the team," Levy quietly said.
Levy flourished at Berkshire. By the time he graduated, he had been named the team's MVP and the school's Athlete of the Year as a senior. Playing a national schedule with the Braves, Levy averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game, which earned him the attention of recruiting publications, which ranked him among the top-50 prospects in the nation. He even played for Panama's Under 21 team in the pre-world championships in 2000. He drew the attention of college coaches when Berkshire played in the Bob Gibbons high school tournament in Chapel Hill. Former Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom took notice of Levy's attributes. His lanky 6-9 frame and his long arms combined with his quickness and athleticism created a nice package for a college team who might need a forward who could defend on the wing as well as rebound and run the floor. Although skinny, Levy was just the type of player who could bulk up after getting to college and perhaps develop into a unique player who could defend on the perimeter and withstand the pounding dished out inside the paint.
"He's very quiet and unassuming," head coach Skip Prosser of Wake Forest said. "He's the ultimate team player who just cares about winning. You don't really appreciate him, even as a coach watching him, during the game. But when you watch the tape he's out there doing the little things. He's a bright player with a high basketball IQ. He's almost always in the right place."
Levy is still admittedly skinny, but he's certainly developed and is still developing into a unique player for the 2002 Demon Deacons. He's helped Wake Forest win the first 10 games as one of the first players off the bench and delivered double-doubles as a starter in Wake's ACC victories over defending national champion Maryland and Georgia Tech. Levy was elevated into the starting lineup after guard Justin Gray sustained a broken jaw at Duke in Wake's ACC opener.
"With our manpower situation, we need him," Prosser said. "It's not really surprising to me he's doing what he doing. I kind of expected it. He's a great kid who understands our situation, and he's responded. God bless him that he's on our team. He's quiet and unassuming, but when you look at the stat sheet or watch a tape, he just does a lot to help our team." Levy does appear to fit-in well with the team, so what he has been able to do in a relatively short amount of time goes greatly unappreciated. As if it weren't hard enough to learn how to play at the highest level of college basketball, Levy has had to adjust to living away from his family, the academic rigors of the highly competitive Wake Forest classes and deal with learning a second language.
Levy has been speaking English for only a little more than three years. It wasn't until he attended high school in Florida that he began to use English daily. He speaks English relatively well for someone who is just learning a second-language. It takes roughly seven years of study before a person can become fully functional in a second language. Levy has adjusted quite quickly.
"When I got the job at Wake Forest, I went down to Miami to talk to him, and he said he was looking forward to coming to Wake Forest," Prosser said. "He does well in class and is a delight to coach. People always talk about my Lithuanian (Vytas Danelius) and forget about the kid from Panama, but he's much more bilingual. To be honest I don't even think about it with him. I tell him what to do, and he does it."
"I don't think Coach even remembers I'm from Panama," Levy said with a wry smile. Whatever Prosser is telling Levy to do it seems to be working. And Prosser hasn't gone lightly on the directions. Depending on the game, Levy is asked to guard anyone from a shooting guard to a power forward. Prosser says he guards everybody. And it's because he can that so much is asked of him. He's athletic enough to be a defensive presence on the wing and inside and has proven to be effective on both the offensive and defensive boards, around which he says he builds his game. With good range extending out to three-point range, Levy also is hard to defend, but lately he has been scoring a lot off second-chance baskets.
"I like Jamaal's game because no matter how much time he gets, he'll give you 100 percent. He learns from his mistakes and plays hard," freshman teammate Eric Williams said. "I think a lot of people were shocked by his kind of play because it's so solid. He knows what he has to do to help us win the game."
Prosser alluded to Levy's high basketball IQ and he fittingly attributes his development to study. Levy said he tapes Wake Forest game broadcasts and watches his play critically during his spare time. From his observations he sees mistakes and formulates questions to ask teammates and the coaching staff during practices. Levy, not surprisingly, is a student of the game.
With Gray out while his broken jaw heals, Levy's play has helped a young Wake Forest develop into one of the nation's top 25 teams. His quiet unassuming nature doesn't describe his play. And his sense of urgency to become a contributor prompted Prosser to call him "a mature player" despite his sophomore status. Levy knows his role has increased because of Gray's injury, but his take on the present situation is that he is just a piece of the puzzle and he wants to show he has learned his lessons.
"Justin Gray is a great player, and he can't play because of his broken jaw, so I just try to do the best I can," Levy said. "I know I have to get some rebounds. I think that's my main focus. I'm kind of skinny, so I just try to go for every ball and hope fully I'm going to get some of them on both ends. Most of the time I'm guarding two-guards and since I'm 6-9, and taking shots over me makes it kind of difficult. But I just try to help my team."f