Unsigned Senior Spotlight: Jeremiah Stanton
We continue to shine light on the unsigned seniors that unfortunately didn’t get the fair chance to showcase their talents due to COVID restrictions. A senior that continues to fly under the radar is Gerstell point guard Jeremiah Stanton Jeremiah Stanton 5'11" | PG Gerstell Academy | 2021 State MD . Stanton is a 5-foot-11 guard who took on a drastically increased role last season that allowed him to show his potential as a college prospect.
“Last year was the first year where I really had the ball in my hands and the offense was basically ran through me,” Stanton told Prep Hoops. “So that was an adjustment just learning when to score and when to get my teammates involved. I’ve been watching a lot of film and talking to my coaches and I think I have a better understanding of how to run a team. Knowing where guys want the ball so they’ll be successful and then knowing if we’re in a scoring drought, I need to be able to take over and score until everyone else gets their shots falling.”
Like the majority of players, Stanton experienced a spring and summer limited with gym access and no live game action. Still, he took responsibility to focus on areas that he feels will allow him to take another step in his overall development.
“During the lockdown I was really trying to focus on my conditioning and my body because I wasn’t in the best shape and I had to play a whole lot of minutes. I would have mental lapses because I was tired, so that was a big thing I wanted to improve on. Also when I started getting into the gym I was working on my in-between game. I feel like I shoot really well from outside and teams played a bunch of different defenses to stop that, so working on my mid-range, floaters and euro steps around the basket to get me some more looks,” Stanton said.
I was fortunate enough to see Stanton in action this fall and there’s no doubt that he improved his game in many ways. He’s quicker, has more wiggle off the bounce and can make things happen at a much better rate off the dribble than before. He’ll once again be heavily depended upon as a scorer for Gerstell, but Stanton has his focus set on what he still needs to improve on to prepare for the college level.
“I still want to do a better job of getting my teammates involved. I feel like I’m naturally a scorer, but I can’t get tunnel vision and I need to be aware of what guys next to me need to get going. On defense, I really want to consistently pick the ball up 94 feet and make it tough on the opposing guards. We have a small team so I may guard anywhere between the 1-4, so that’s another area I’ll look to improve on just being versatile and physical as those matchups change.”
Bryn Athyn and Immaculata are the two programs showing the most interest in Stanton. He recently took a visit to Immaculata and spoke on the experience.
“It was good. I liked the coach and he’s very upfront and that’s what I was looking for. He told me what I still need to work on, but he also told me that if I decide to come there there will be minutes for me. I’ll have to earn those minutes, though.”
Stanton is looking to schedule a visit to Bryn Athyn in the next two weeks, but at this point his recruitment remains open.
“Academics are the most important thing to me when evaluating schools. I want to make sure they have my major in Business Administration and they have the resources for me to be successful after college. As far as basketball, I’m looking for gym access, playing style and honestly, I just want to have a good relationship with the coach off the court so that I know I can trust him on the court.”