Hursh Mehta Heading to NYC

6-foot-6 Hursh Mehta of Archbishop Mitty accepted a different role when joining a stellar high school team and came through for his squad a number of times when the Monarchs needed a boost and now he is headed to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, home of 4,000 undergraduates.

PI Coach David Danzig was in southern California attending a basketball tournament for recruiting purposes last summer, witnessed Mehta playing and liked what he saw. The two connected with Danzig and Mehta staying in touch. In yet another hoops episode of "It's A Small World," Danzig and Mitty Head Coach Tim Kennedy know of each other which aided the recruiting process. Danzig moved quickly, offering Mehta in July. The Mitty Monarch visited in mid-October and "liked Pratt a lot." He accepted the offer on April 12.

Mehta's positioning and tangibles

"For Pratt, I'll be a stretch four and a wing who can shoot and also attack off the dribble," Mehta explained. With Mitty, he is primarily a post "with good footwork who can shoot and see cutters really well."

Academically, Mehta sports a 3.9 grade point average including honors courses alongside a 34 ACT score. His major will be Critical and Visual Studies which Mehta said translated to "communications and design."

Mehta (center) with his teammates and Coach Tim Kennedy on the left

Mehta sees himself as a team leader, fulfilling that role early in his AAU participation with his West Valley Basketball program. On his 12-2 (league), 18-6 (overall) Mitty team, "my leadership role changed, being non-traditional because I worked on team chemistry off the court."

His best basketball moment occurred this past season  "when my minutes were off and on. But I started playing more when some guys were hurt." In the Torrey Pines tournament during early December, Mehta played the whole fourth quarter and close to the end, "I hit two free throws to ice the game." Was he nervous? "No, I've shot thousands of free throws in practice." Plus, "my favorite cousin from Arkansas was in attendance at that game."

So why basketball and not another sport?

"I was huge when I was growing up and just fell in love with it. I thought the competition was great."

Regarding what he will be focusing on this summer, Mehta said, "I'll be working on improving my athleticism to better stay in front of guys." Come winter, his goal is "to make an immediate impact."

Thanks to

Mehta offered thanks to multiple individuals for their assistance in his hoops journey. "I want to thank my Mom for helping me get to so many games and practices and thank my little brother and my cousin." Plus, "West Valley Coach Alec Vucinich who has worked with me since my freshman year, (Mitty Coach) TK (Tim Kennedy), and all my teammates."