Jordan Penha '18 Recruiting Profile

My goal is to attend an institute of higher education and become a physical therapist or athletic trainer.  After earning my degree and playing college basketball, I want to play professional basketball in an international league, the NBA D League or the NBA.    

Through years of hard work and hours in the gym, I feel confident in my basketball skills and basketball IQ. I am always willing and eager to learn from my coaches. I put my teammates and the team before my personal wants in order to make the team better. I am a leader. I make sure my teammates and I are staying focused in practice and in games. I stay on top of my team by pushing and motivating them to work so we can be successful.

Growing up in a Christian home and a family of 11, I learned very valuable life lessons.  These enabled me to stay on the path to success, which includes attending college and being a college athlete. With such a big family, I’ve realized I am extremely blessed by their loving support and encouragement to help me succeed in my goals. My parents have exhibited the importance of hard work.  I saw this through my mom’s dedication to home schooling all of us and my dad’s hard work in order to provide more than enough for all of us.

My day starts at 5:30 a.m.  I eat a healthy breakfast and get to the YMCA gym by 6.  For the next two hours, I work out with two of my younger brothers.  We focus on basketball skills, speed and conditioning. Then, I go to work. I am an employee at our local YMCA. I work in the weight room, help out with basketball clinics and train younger athletes for basketball from 8am-1pm. After work, I come home, eat lunch and finish my school work until 6 PM.  I have one more gym session from 6:30 to 8:30 in which I lift weights and practice shooting. During the school year, I play for my homeschool team, the San Angelo Saints. Throughout the summer, I travel all over Texas and have attended tournaments in Las Vegas and Kansas with my AAU team, the Bulldogs.

Being homeschooled is what has created my diligent work ethic.  I currently have a 3.7 GPA this year. Taking an interest in the human body and how it works and performs has given me a desire to pursue sports medicine or kinesiology.  I want to help young athletes and individuals recover from their injuries and be able to pursue their goals in life.