Athlete? Model? We try to redefine and offer both here.
E-Woods suggests booking photographer JD Duarte, dope snapper of some of the shots in this feature story!
Who’s your hometown legend? In my sleepy town of Camarillo, population 50 K, it’s 5-8 Ventura College point guard Jacob Alonzo, a sweet shooting rising college junior.
He reminds me of Disney’s Aladdin because he runs up on the city guards, stealing their apples, breaking free of their shackles to flash an overall game that proves he’s a premier junior college guard in Cali.
How dope is he E-Woods?
I used to chill with Paul Pierce back in the day; he introduced me to fellow Inglewood hometown hero Jason Hart.
I feel about Jacob just like what Paul says eloquently about Jason, “Jason was not the tallest player growing up and he wasn’t the most sought after guard that everyone pegged to be in the NBA. But out of pure hustle and work he is living out his dream to play in the NBA. You can achieve your dreams if you have the right level of work ethic.”
#Jacob got it like that
In LA, Jason Hart is “the man” for many reasons. He’s that kind, hardworking, and intelligent dude who balled out in the L for the Spurs and Bobcats. He holds Syracuse’s record as its 2nd all time leader in assists. He now works as a USC basketball assistant coach.
Why am I comparing these two?
Both are pure of heart. J-Hart has already cemented a pro legacy, the other is a college junior on the grind to leave his mark next year at Texas A & M International.
To appreciate J-Alonzo you need to know he loves Disney and horror movies. All that fantasy and action gets him going, slasher movies are tense enough keep him on the edge of his seat.
Why does Jacob’s story need to be known? Jacob is like Disney’s Aladdin, good looking and straight laced, has a girlfriend that’s a dead ringer for Jasmine from that movie no less.
Poor Jacob experienced his own horror flick 3 years ago as he was a freshman at storied Ventura College. Imagine a knee killer called “tendonosis.” Instead of a maniac trying to slash and cut you up, the villain is making micro tears in your knee that occur on a cellular level and debilitate your knees.
Crazy, right? Let Jacob explain, “Suffering extreme pain in my knee as a freshman, tendonosis robbed me of my speed. I was playing less than 75% of myself at best. It was devastating, so much that it makes you want to quit, but my parents, Lisa and Isaac Alonzo believed in me.
“They sacrificed and paid for this extremely expensive PRP treatment that isn’t covered by insurance. They just told me they’d do whatever it took to help me be whole again. I desperately wanted to be a dominator in college hoops.
“I can only repay that kindness by taking my rehab really serious, which I did, putting in the countless hours in the gym to build up my body strength. My goal was not to just simply play. No, I was given a 2nd chance, almost losing it all. It affirmed my mission to dominate all the games I would play in. I did it for them, in their name.”
#true love
Jacob has lived near me his whole life. I’ve been knowing his older brother Isaac who is 7 years older than J.
Isaac is a dope guy to ball and hang out with. But to Jacob he was that genie who guided his younger brother’s game. It wasn’t as simple as rubbing the lamp. It took sweat and thousands of hours of practice, because Isaac is a tough nosed and savvy guard and Jacob could never half-step his way through the training sessions.
Me? I’ve hardly ever seen an older brother show his sibling more about how to grind and attain court awareness.
Jacob shares, “I’ve always looked up to my older brother Isaac. He taught me to anticipate and get the timing right on court on my mission to get a basketball scholarship, figuring out how to execute every aspect on how a smooth point guard should be. Countless hours paid off. I didn’t even let a partial tear in my achilles that happened the first week of this season stop me.
“Isaac reminded me I could play through pain and I was dunking again only a few weeks later. How did I do it? By keeping my body clean. I’m proud to never drink or ever do drugs. My brother helped me realize that would take away my potential.”
Jacob always flashes this big time smile as he rolls through the local gym doors. So what does he do for fun if not party?
He just kills it on the court and I’m proud of him as he’s a Kinesiology major who’s determined to be a physical therapist, be that professional someone who pays it forward for a future client that needs a 2nd chance at competing. How dope is that?
Jacob graduated from VC, just like me, us both being Pirates. Seeing his courage to overcome adversity brought me back to remembering another VC player I knew in 1990 when I was a freshman in college: none other than all-time VC legend Cedric Ceballos.
I’ll never forget the horror of seeing Ced totally get run over by a Mac-10 truck on Victoria Rd in Ventura. Ced was just a couple years older than Jacob is now. Full circle fosho.
Seeing the blood streaming down Ced’s leg, him just graduating Cal St Fullerton, knowing his dream to be in the NBA draft was in jeopardy since the draft was just a couple months away.
I looked in Ced’s eyes as the ambulance came over and I said to him, “Bro, I’ll pray for you, I know God will let you keep playing. You taught me how to dunk, you’ll be taking off from the free throw line yet again Ced.”
He just flashed that winning grin through the pain and said, “Bet on it bro, nothing will stop me from living out my dream.” That’s Jacob as well, him grinning through the pain, a dream still locked in his sights.
Jacob’s best bud, Andrew Peralta, we all chill together at 24 Hour Fitness. I remember how Andrew kept Jacob’s spirits up 3 years ago as he went through PRP treatments.
Now Jacob is a couple weeks away from moving to Texas, there’s a flood of emotion as the city of Camarillo will miss his presence. You can’t find one soul in the city that roots against him leaving us, to live out his dream in Texas.
What’s the worst in hoops? A talented youngster in pain, on the verge of defeat. The best? Seeing a 5-8 tornado of energy named Jacob rise from the ashes to win his league MVP at JC and be selected first team all state in junior college.
Jacob also won 2 league MVPs in high school but there’s a huge difference to earn it at the next level.
How many 5-8 kids that start out as scrawny pups in high school put in the time to morph their body into a pit bull in college? Dude averaged 16 ppg, 5 assists and 5 rebounds per contest last season.
Efficiency? 95% on free throws, a JC national record last season. Jacob hit 55% from the field, 45% from behind the arc, that’s ridiculous for being 5-8. But that’s the only way Aladdin could repay his parents love, put in a season for the ages, no doubt.
Let Jacob relate it, “I was proud to hold 9 different high school records in certain categories ranging from most 3’s made, assists, steals. I did it all to honor my family, the record doesn’t just belong to me because I only accomplished it from being supported by so many.”
Jacob was recruited by Chaminade, Cal St San Bernardino, Pt Loma, and a dozen other programs that knew he has the juice to be that steady hand to guide a team, the heart to overcome adversity.
Jacob, he doesn’t play to just play, he feels he has to dominate if given the chance.
How much do I respect that? Whether or not Jacob makes the NBA professional ranks like Ceballos did, you can’t take away that this 5-8 Aladdin has showed he has the heart of a champion and is actualizing his talent like Jason Hart did.
Jacob might not be as flashy as fellow VC alum Rafer Alston, who had an epic crazy handle in the 90s, or jump over buildings like fellow VC grad James Ennis, who plays for the Houston Rockets.
But I do appreciate Jacob’s game just as much as those 2 because J-Alonzo flashes a heart that is just as brilliant as any hometown hero that you can find.
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