Delroy Daley, a senior at St. Raymond’s High School, took part in the Annual Big Apple Basketball Scholarship Games at Baruch College, on Sunday, April 20, hoping to parlay his recent success into a four-year stint at college.
Before the game, Daley discussed his rise to the top and the obstacles he had to overcome to get there.
“People always try to beat you up and break you down,” Daley said. “I try to fight through the situations I’ve faced and use them to grow more as a person.”
Daley, who has been playing basketball since he was 13 years old, was originally told he wasn’t good enough to play basketball for his high school team. Believing to lack the skill set for Catholic High School level basketball, Daley’s detractors tried squashing his dreams, but the senior continued to practice and learn the game inside and out, with one goal in mind.
“I just go out there and try to prove people wrong,” Daley said of his peers who mocked him for even trying out in ninth grade.
The joke is clearly on them, as Daley stands among the best basketball players in the CHSAA, as well as New York.
Daley found out about the Scholarship Games through word of mouth and was good enough to be chosen to compete. The games bring together only 40 of the top unsigned boys, high school seniors that are in the NYC metropolitan area. They play together to showcase their talent to college basketball coaches and scouts, who may not know of them or may not have seen them play.
Overall in the game, Daley played almost 23 minutes and scored a total of 12 points with 3 assists. A number of coaches noticed his strong effort and were seen waiting for Daley to come out from the locker room after the games were over.
Daley has received offers from Pace, Bloomfield and SUNY Binghamton. He hopes to attend Binghamton, but with money as an issue, he added that he would go to the school that offered him the best opportunity.
Delroy, who would also like to be a coach or study business, says that basketball, for him, is a way to get a free education and to take advantage of a great opportunity that he would never be able to afford otherwise. It’s also a way to make his inspiration and role model’s dream come true.
“It has been my mom’s dream for a long time to watch me play on television so she does not have to travel to see me play,” he said, noting that his mom travels from Edenwald Houses in Baychester to watch him at St. Raymond’s. “I want to make that happen for her,” he continued.
Regardless of which school he chooses, Daley stated that he holds many fond memories of his time at St. Raymond’s. “It was like a second family. I loved every minute of my time at Ray’s,” he said. “What I will miss most is the crazy crowd at all of my home games and the rush I got from them when I got on the court. St. Raymond’s will always be in my heart.”
