Looking for revenge...
While last year was a huge success for Leilani Correa, The Argonauts had one team that was a thorn in their side all season. Rutgers Prep was ranked #1 in the state and was one game away from the state championship, when Franklin stepped in and stole their thunder. Correa has used that as fuel and went on a tear this summer, dominating the AAU scene for the NJ Sparks. Do to her stellar play Correa is ranked as a top 25 player in the class of 2019. It's only right that we paid homage and selected Correa as a diarist for us this year. Check back throughout the season as Leilani gives us an insider look at the life of a star student athlete playing basketball on the highest level in New Jersey.
Hello everyone! My name is Leliani Correa and I am a guard for Rutgers Prep. I will be checking in with you guys twice a month to share my journey throughout my junior season!
This spring I played with NJ Sparks. It was my first summer playing in the Nike EYBL. It was an amazing first experience. My team was loaded. Shoutouts to my teammates Kae Sadderfield, Jaida Patrick, Michelle Sidor and the rest of the Sparks program! The competition was unreal every game. The best person I played against was Dara Mabrey. She is very skilled offensively and defends at a high level. I loved playing against her, that’s my girl.
The makeup of this team in comparison to last year is very different. We will look to get out and run early and often. Our practices early on have been great. Very competitive everyday in practice. I also love how tough we can be in practice and still support each other. To push our new style of play, we have been doing a lot of conditioning early. I already see the positive effects of the conditioning as a unit on both sides of the floor.
Our first couple of scrimmages were very competitive. Our first scrimmage was against University High in Newark. It was good to get out there and see some things at game speed. We also had a scrimmage against Rumson Fair-Haven. It was great to go up against Tori Hyduke. She is a great ball handler and is very difficult to defend as she is constantly attacking.
Jahsyni Knight will be back in January. We are all looking forward to having her back with us on the floor. She is a great leader and point guard. She does a great job getting us in the right spots on the floor and is great defender.
I can’t wait to get back to regular season games. One of our first strong early season matchups is against Franklin. They were the only team that beat us last year. I’m going to give it my all and make sure that doesn’t happen again. One of their star players is Diamond Miller. Diamond is an outstanding player, I love her game. She is very tough to guard. She has great length and can really shoot. It’s going to be a fun game.
On my spare time, I like to listen to music. When I’m looking to vibe out, I listen to Kehlani. She’s one of my favorite artists. Some of my favorite songs by her are “Personal” and “Do You Dirty,” which are both on her new album. Pre-game, I like to listen to “First Day Out” by Tee Grizzley.
'Til next time,
Leilani