ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Jordan Capellan knew that he had to do something to change his fate and his status with the Memorial High School boys’ basketball team. After all, Capellan was entering his senior year with the Tigers and was coming off a junior year where he didn’t see a lot of action.
If Capellan was going to make his mark, make some sort of an impact, this was his last chance.
“I knew that if I was a leader and a captain, I had to step it up in a big way,” Capellan said.
So during the offseason, Capellan spent countless hours working on his basketball skills. He resides right near Miller Park, across the street from Miller Stadium in West New York, so he would take his basketball and spent hours, dribbling, cutting, running and especially shooting on the courts, long after everyone else had gone home.
“I would go to Miller Park every night to take a lot of shots,” Capellan said. “I had nothing else to do, so I knew I had to work on my game, my shooting, my ball handling. I knew that I had to be one of the better players this year. I was at the park every single night shooting the ball.”
Capellan also played with his Memorial teammates at the Teaneck High School summer league, so he was able to develop confidence in his new-found abilities.
“I definitely felt a little different,” Capellan said. “I knew I had more of a role this year. I knew I had to be more responsible. I had to be more aggressive and want the game more.”
Memorial head coach Ryan Raparelli had faith that the 6-foot-3 Capellan would be an improved player with a bigger role this season.
“I knew he had the ability to step it up this year,” Raparelli said. “He’s a senior and that’s expected from seniors. He had a few big games for us last year, but he just didn’t fit into the regular rotation. But we expected him to come up big this year. He’s become one of our main men.”
However, no one could have ever predicted Capellan’s prowess from long range. He’s developed into one of the deadliest 3-point shooters in Hudson County.
“Once he’s feeling it from out there, he’s very hard to stop,” Raparelli said. “He’s always ready to take a three, then fire up the next one. He now has the green light to shoot every time. We talked about that over the summer. I told him that if he’s open, shoot the ball. I want him to put it up.”
That’s the kind of faith from a coach that every single high school basketball player would love to have, having a coach tell you to shoot every time you touch the ball.
“Once he told me that, I said, ‘Alright, Coach, you said the words,’ ” Capellan said. “I’ll just keep shooting. Once I see the threes falling, I just keep shooting. That’s my best thing. I know I can shoot the ball.”
Just like he did over and over again during the summer in the courtyard. Capellan has displayed the same impeccable shooting touch.
Last week, Capellan nailed eight 3-pointers in a win over Kearny, scoring 31 points in all. He followed up that performance by canning seven treys in a win against neighboring Union City, finishing that game with 27 points.
For his efforts, Capellan has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Raparelli said that there are a few reasons for Capellan’s improvement, other than spending so much time working on his long-range jumper.
“It’s a little bit of maturity and a little bit of confidence,” Raparelli said. “Last year, he was very hesitant to take his shot. The team he played with was filled with seniors, so he had to take a back seat to them. This year, he’s more confident and he’s looking to shoot. His teammates believe in him and they’re getting him the ball. He’s worked very hard to get where he is. It’s been fun to watch.”
It’s also made the Tigers a better team.
“Jordan’s shooting ability opens up things for others, opens up the lanes,” Raparelli said. “He’s just a great kid. He’s stepped up and become a leader. He leads by example and I’m happy about that.”
Raparelli said that Capellan is doing a better job rebounding as well.
“He’s going after the ball and we need that,” Raparelli said. “We don’t have that kind of athlete who can score and rebound, so he has been filling that void. He’s really impacting the game all around and it’s been great to see. He still needs a little polish, but he’s come a long way. Right now, he has that shooting stroke and we hope it continues.”
Capellan is stunned with how much he has developed as a player.
“I’m very surprised,” Capellan said. “I never saw myself improving that much. I never thought this was possible. I never saw myself as top player, but now I can say, ‘I did it.’ ”
Capellan is also a good student who is considering playing at either Ramapo or Rutgers-Newark.
“I’ll go anywhere that gives me a chance to play,” said Capellan, a B-average student who scored better than 1,200 in his Scholastic Aptitude Test. “It’s been a great turnaround for me. I never thought I could do it.”
It’s just another example of hard work, dedication and self discipline to have the strong will to improve paying excellent dividends. Jordan Capellan has gone from an afterthought to a sharpshooter supreme in the space of a year and Memorial has a better basketball team now because of it. –Jim Hague

Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.