Hoosic Valley’s John Rooney Interview With U.S.S.

John Rooney, from Hoosic Valley H.S., has his sights set on academics, as well as basketball.  His dedication on and off the court has helped him become a stellar student-athlete.  Averaging 20.1 points per game so far this season, John and his team have their eyes set on the Glens Falls Civic Center.  I caught up with John to talk with him about his aspirations for this season, as well as the future.U.S.-  What is your position, height, weight, and grade?J.R.-  I’m a 6’4″, 190 lb. sophomore shooting guard .U.S.-  Have you thought about college and what you may be interested in studying? Also, what colleges are you interested in?

J.R.-  I haven’t put much thought into who I want to play college basketball for yet. I’ve had a good opportunity to play with the City Rocks and hope that that will give me the exposure I need for the next level. I haven’t decided on what I want to major in yet, but I want to maintain my grades at a high level so that when I do decide what I want to do in college, my grades will meet its standards.

U.S.- What do you think your weaknesses are?

J.R.- I want to gain a lot more strength for the upcoming season, because it’s something I haven’t worked on a lot in the past.

U.S.- What are your goals for the year, individually, and team-wise?

J.R.-  My goals individually are to play at the highest level possible that I can achieve with hard work and really step up to become a leader throughout the rest of my high school career. The goal for our team this year is to make it to the Glens Falls Civic Center, have a collectively high overall GPA as a team and have the whole team step up and play a role, as our coach said on the first day of practice. I think it’s important to treat our team as a family. With the great players we have this year, I think we are really going to make a name for ourselves.

 U.S.-  What is your favorite part of the game of basketball?

 J.R.-  I love everything about the game of basketball, but to me the best part is the intensity and the competition of knowing that there’s always someone out there trying to beat you and become better.

 U.S.- Who is your favorite NBA player?

 J.R.-  My favorite player is Blake Griffin , mostly because of the insane dunks he delivers every game.

 We at Upstate Scouting Service want to thank John for his time.  We also want to wish him and his team good luck this year, and we hope to see them reach their goal and end up in Glens Falls.

Robb Bareis-Staff Writer