JJ Sweatt Wants to Play College Ball

Our team gets coverage because we're exciting to watch, even though we're at the edge of the TV station's market.

I'm a team player that loves to play. I want my team to score while I'm on the floor; I don't care which of my teammates gets the points. I'm a good ballhandler with a good crossover. I get more than my share of rebounds because I use good technique, I have a sense of where the ball will go, and then I sprint to get it if I have to. Some of my attributes--such as hustle--don't show up on the stat sheet. I get deflections that give my teammates steals. I play solid defense. (In 70 games as a varsity starter, I've always drawn the toughest defensive assignment; I take pride in that.) I love to pass the ball. I've always been one of the best passers on my team (putting humbleness aside for a moment). My high school coach, Coach Hosman, talks in this interview about passing being contagious; he's talking about me. That's me that's interviewed after Coach Hosman. My sophomore year, I started with a senior and three juniors. My junior year, I started with four seniors. This year, our starters consisted of two seniors, two sophomores, and a freshman. My team, Massac County, plays in one of the best (and toughest) conferences in Southern Illinois. Many teams love to press in our conference. In my sophomore year, teams paid the price for trying to press us. I can throw over the top with deadly accuracy. Even when that isn't available, our team rarely turned the ball over on the press, and just getting the ball in the front court leads to easy buckets when the defense is compromised. I don't break the press by outrunning it on the dribble (though I appreciate that skill in others). I help break it by making the smart pass quickly, before the double team arrives. Many times, the best pass to break the press is a quick return pass cross-court. In my junior year, even teams that regularly press would rarely press us. In my senior year, the opponents just haven't pressed us. The last 3 years, I was the one that played all three positions in our 2-3 zone (when we played it--we switch back and forth between that, a 1-2-2, and man-to-man, of course), depending on the other personnel that were on the court. If I have to pay my dues by playing on the scout team in practice and sitting the bench during games, I promise, you will not find a better bench teammate. Ask my coach. 270-816-6923. I have played 30+ minutes in several games in high school.