#TheDribbleDrop Diary: Ja'Quaye James

What The Game's Been Missing...

From day one, Ja'Quaye has been one of the most electrifying players on the east coast. This kid is a walking bucket. James is one of the founding fathers of the world renown "Jelly Fam" movement. His style of play is electric. James is known for heating up fast. You never know when he can go off for 40. As a result, his games are some of the most watched in New Jersey. 

Sometimes when you see a player can be flashy but his style of play doesn't result in wins. With James, that couldn't be further from the truth. The crafty guard has won Group the past two years. This year he is looking to go all of the way. It's only right that we paid homage and selected James as a diarist for us this year.  Check back throughout the season as James gives us an insider look at the life of a star student athlete playing basketball on the highest level in New Jersey.  

Get your popcorn ready! 

Hello everyone! My name is Ja'Quaye James and I am a guard for Teaneck. I will be checking in with you guys twice a month to share my journey throughout my senior season!

The EYBL circuit this year was very intense. I play on the Tim Thomas Playaz. Our team was loaded. Shoutouts to my brother Jalen. Much love to Al and Paul as well. They're a year underneath us, but played on our level and held their own every game. One of the most exciting games was our matchup with Cali Supreme. That team SHAQ's son and Manute Bol's son. It was a lot of hype around that one so it was live. I also had a great matchup this year with Donovann Toatley. It’s always a great game.

Outside of that, I played at Dyckman a lot. That’s like my backyard. I’m from New York and I have a lot of friends out there. Sometimes it’s hard for them to see me play in Jersey, especially the  younger kids out there who like to see me play but can’t make it out here. I do that for them. This summer I won two championships. I won the high school one on a buzzer beater and the unlimited one cause we was just tough across the board. Shoutouts to my pops for getting two chips as well this summer.

One big thing I worked on this summer was getting stronger. I’ve been working hard to take my body to another level. I’ve been getting alot of interests from schools and the focus has been getting stronger so I’ve worked hard on that. Monmouth was one of the schools that offered me as of late. One thing I want on the next level is to have a coach that really trusts me. The ball is going to be in my hands and he has to trust that I’m going to make the right play based on what I see. I want a coach that isn’t just good with “x’s & o’s” but someone who played the game and understands that you have to see the floor and think on the fly. Sometimes we may be down and we may have to play a thug it out style. Sometimes we may be up 10 and we may have to run plays and take our time, get the best shot and make the defense work.

This year I have a personal mantra and I’ve been working hard to get everyone on board with the wave. The mindset I’m trying to get everyone on is "T.O.C. or nothing.” We have made it to the semifinals a couple times and now I’m ready win the chip. I’ve been pushing everyone to compete on a high level everyday and everyone has been up to the challenge.

Our scrimmages went well this year. The first one went great. We came out the gates hyped and really played at a high level. Our last scrimmage was against Hudson Catholic. That was a great test for us also.

I’m ready for the season to start. Our first game is a Hoop Group event against Pascack Valley. Another early on one of the games to watch out for is against Don Bosco. Right now I think they have won 2 out of 3 of our matchups and I’m ready to settle the score.

On my spare time, I like to listen to music. Pre-game, my mood changes. Sometimes I like slow songs that mellow me out. Sometimes I like to turn up.  I like to listen to Vino World “From Nothin,” 6IX9INE "Kooda"  and Lil Baby “Minute.”

'Til next time, 

Ja'Quaye