Gabriel Enyiwa '24 Recruiting Profile

This year has been a great year for me, my teammates, and the school. Last year, we had a very tough year that led to our Coach Don Lippi leaving. A lot of people approached me about leaving, saying I was wasting my time at St. Joseph Notre Dame, but I wanted to finish my career with my teammates. We had gone through a lot together, and it was important for me to be there and finish what we began. Before the year, I set some goals for myself personally, and for the team. One of my personal goals was to be All League, the other was for the team to finish with a winning record. With four league games left, both goals are still within reach. 

 In late December, I suffered from a very serious bronchial infection that had me go to the hospital twice, and this was in the middle of our most difficult tournament period. This affected me for about five games, and we lost a lot of these games. Even though those were difficult games for me personally, and I had trouble breathing sometimes, I was proud I played in all those games, as I have not missed a game in three seasons on varsity. I take pride in that. 

Looking at this season, I would not give up all that I have learned to win a few more games. This year, I have learned to deal with so many types of defenses and double teams and triple teams. I have learned to read defenses, to make quicker decisions, and patience, lots of patience. We have already won four league games this year after winning none in the last two seasons, and I have been contacted and approached by a lot of college coaches and recruiters. More important to me, I have earned the respect of my teammates, the opposing coaches, and my own coaches. I have learned leadership, responsibility and sacrifice of personal wishes for team success. I would not give that up for anything. I don't know what the future holds, but I am so appreciative of the journey so far.