Blake Bastani attended a basketball camp last July in Los Angeles. Little did he know at the time that his life was about to change dramatically. "I played pretty well,"he recalled. Apparently so because New Hampton School (New Hampshire) Assistant Coach Ky Feldman sat in attendance and approached Bastani during a break. The two began talking. The more Bastani listened, the more he liked what he heard.
All that talk has resulted in Bastani set to enroll at New Hampton School this fall as well as playing for the New Hampton prep squad which plays a high level coast-to-coast basketball schedule. The program has produced nine NBA players with 25 current collegians being New Hampton graduates.
"I visited in the fall and liked what I saw," Bastani recalled. "I'll be living on campus, the school is good and everyday I'll be going up against D1 level recruits in practice." The formidable competition will be a beneficial challenge as it forces a player to both hone his present skill set plus add to it, meaning get better in order to earn and keep playing time.
Not to be overlooked is it says a lot about Bastani as a player, student and person that a school and basketball program 3,000 miles away made the decision to invest time and money in him.
Another positive for Bastani is having multiple Division 1 schools reaching out to him recently with lots of interest.
However, Bastani will be back home this summer playing for the Oakland Soldiers team on the Nike circuit, providing opportunities to see him play on one of the Bay Area's premier travel teams.
To a question about what his current wardrobe looks like considering winter temperatures in New Hampshire, Bastani laughed and said "I'll be adding a few jackets before I go." That and probably a few new assets to his skill set.
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