Cherokee High School (N.J.) and Team Sharp rising senior wing Gabby Recinto did not wait for more offers to come rolling in.
When the 5-foot-10 Recinto went on an unofficial visit to Division II Thomas Jefferson University (Philly, Pa.), she said she knew that it was where she really wanted to attend college and play basketball. So, she verbally committed near the beginning of the summer.
“When we went down there to visit, it felt completely different from any other college I visited,” Recinto recollected. “Everything about it was great. It was amazing. No body showed me interest like Jefferson did. My coaches remind me of my high school coaches.”
But it was the advice Recinto received from a few people as a child that resonated with her and helped her make the final choice.
“I was always told as a kid to go where you’re really wanted,” she said. “They (Jefferson basketball program coaches) made me feel wanted.”
Recinto, who holds a martial arts black belt, plans to major in a health science and eventually earn her nursing degree, a decision that her grandmother, who was a nurse and currently works as a nurse practitioner, has influenced.
Recinto said that she and her sister used to emulate their grandmother, playing with her stethoscope as kids. She said she hopes to work in the pediatric field after graduation.
Before Recinto enters college, however, she will finish out her senior year of high school by playing another season of volleyball in the fall, and back to basketball in the winter, while maintaining her impressive grades.
The 17-year-old, who scored 367 points and grabbed a team-best 66 rebounds this past New Jersey girl’s basketball high school season, is looking forward to her college future.
“I’m super excited to start a new chapter in my life,” Recinto said with conviction.
The Jefferson Rams posted a 24-9 overall record and went 13-5 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action in the 2021-22 season.
— Jerry Del Priore
Photo: Mike Recinto.
Brooklyn Sports World/NY NJ Sports World 