MEDFORD – The cellphone name Sam Orcutt waited an eternity for got here Friday afternoon. On the opposite finish was the United States Military Academy telling the Medford High basketball star that he was accepted to West Point.
“Ever since I started learning about the military academies, West Point was on my radar and has been for a while,” stated Orcutt, whose older sister Amy is already at West Point. “It was pretty amazing to get the phone call from them.”
As glad as Orcutt was, Medford head boys coach John Skerry might need rivaled him within the pleasure division. The two have solid an excellent friendship since assembly at a basketball camp eight years in the past.
“He comes into practice with a smile on his face,” Skerry stated. “Once he told me, I tackled him, that’s how excited I was. I know how much he wanted this, how much he wanted to represent his country. The kid just checks off all the boxes.”
Orcutt’s curiosity within the army began at a baseball camp on the Naval Academy simply earlier than highschool. He set his sights on getting right into a army academy, and West Point topped the listing. The subsequent step was securing a army letter of advice, which he acquired from U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark.
His ardour for the army is matched by his love of basketball. Much of that got here from his uncle, Scituate head boys basketball Matt Poirier, whose spouse Emily is the brother of Sam’s father, Ben.
“My uncle Matt and my cousin Jack (a former Boston Herald Dream Teamer now playing at LeMoyne) were the two that really got me into it,” Orcutt stated. “I saw the love they had for basketball and watching the success Jack had because of the time and effort he put into it was something I appreciated.”
Because of their schedules, Poirier hasn’t had a possibility to see his nephew play dwell. Thanks to fashionable know-how, Poirier watched all of his video games on Hudl and freely admits he may have discovered a spot in his lineup for a 6-foot-3 swingman who’s averaging greater than 21 factors a recreation.
“I might have a hard time explaining that one,” Poirier stated with amusing. “I’m so happy for Sam after missing most of last year with injuries. I just love the tenacity that he plays with.”
Producing on the courtroom hasn’t been the difficulty for Orcutt as a lot as getting on the courtroom. A preseason ankle harm prompted him to overlook a while, then a damaged hand took care of the remainder of the season.
“It was tough on Sam, but he never once complained, never once said woe is me,” Skerry stated. “He just worked hard, he’s really an old school type of kid. He can be coached hard, wants to be coached hard and that’s something you don’t always see these days.”
Not surprisingly given the place his future lies, loyalty is an enormous phrase for Orcutt. As Skerry talked about twice, Orcutt had alternatives to depart Medford for prep faculties, however needed to remain at residence. For Orcutt, it was by no means a matter of getting to decide – he was residence and all the time meant on staying at residence.
“I do think there is something about playing for your city,” stated Orcutt, who’s contemplating making an attempt out as a hoop walk-on at Army. “There is something different about playing at home in front of your home crowd. There is a special feeling and you can just feel the energy.”
Medford athletic director Bobby Maloney couldn’t be happier that Orcutt stayed the course at his college. It isn’t simply the basketball capability that makes him the kind of scholar/athlete Maloney desires in his program.
“He’s just a great, great individual person, someone everybody in the school is so proud of,” Maloney stated. “This is the type of child you’re coping with. At the freshman/sophomore recreation the opposite day, he’s on the finish of the bench, filling the cups with water and handing them out to children through the recreation.
“He is a class act.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com