As Cal Supreme enters the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, big men Deandre Ayton and Brandon McCoy have captured the attention of the nation. However, the one player that has been essential to their success this season is Cassius Stanley. After a freshman season that saw Stanley lead Harvard Westlake (Studio City, CA) to a Division IV State Championship title for the second year in a row, he firmly put himself in the conversation to be the top player in his class. “We won the state championship this year and we won it during my freshman year. So, I’m trying to win four.” the 6’4”, 185lb shooting guard said.

 

    As a ninth grader, there are very few athletes his age that can match the talent of potential of Stanley. You may recognize him as being the freshman who pulled off a between-the-legs reverse dunk in a game, but his game is far more than one highlight. Although schools are not allowed to contact until his junior year, Stanley already holds offers from schools such as USC, UCLA, and Alabama. “It’s a blessing to have schools consider me,” Stanley said.  “I haven’t really been able to go through the whole process yet because they can’t contact me, but it’s been great from the outside, so it’ll probably be great once they start contacting me.”

Despite the recruiting attention, Stanley remains unfazed. Instead of seeing it as a challenge, he realizes that not many high schoolers have the opportunity to do what he’s doing. “I don’t really see it as pressure. I just see it as an expectation for what I should be doing.” stated the guard from Harvard-Westlake. “I put in the time, so I want to make that count. I don’t think about it as pressure.”

 

    While he may be a highly-recruited basketball player, it’s not all basketball all the time for Stanley. As a baseball player, Stanley is able to become a more well-rounded athlete and relieve the stress of basketball, as he says, “It helps take my mind off the game. You’re in a different place. You’re using different muscles in your body. So, there’s less stress there.”

In addition to baseball and basketball, Stanley also has to maintain his grades, especially at Harvard Westlake, an academically rigorous prep school. Instead of becoming overwhelmed with school, Stanley is able to handle the challenges that he has to face in the classroom: “It’s just the people I surround myself with,” stated Stanley. “They will help me if school is getting too hard or if basketball’s getting too tough. I know that I can lean on them.”

 

    Being highly-recruited at such a young age, Stanley has had to mature faster than his fellow ninth graders. He doesn’t plan to commit to a school until his senior year, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t thought about the schools that he has received offers from, and he mentioned that he would like to receive offers from Stanford, Kentucky, Duke, and Louisville. In the era where you see numerous college athletes entering the NBA Draft after their freshman season, Stanley wants to take a different route. “I know that I want to get a degree in college. I either want to spend four years at school, leave early to come back and finish.”

    As Cassius Stanley strives for a Peach Jam Championship and continues to surpass fellow ninth graders, it is clear that he has a bright future ahead of him. There is no doubting that he is a player to look out for in the Class of 2019. With all the attention surrounding him, Cassius Stanley is motivated by one thing. “The feeling that I’m doing something right on and off the court. I want to keep putting in the hard work because I love the feeling.”