GameBall Magazine Player Profile

Players Name: Laurin Mincy

Hometown: Newark, New Jersey

Class Year: 2010

Height: 5”11

Position: Wing Forward

School Honors: National Honor Society,

Personal Honors: Rank 7^th in 2010 graduating class

Goals: Graduate from high school and college, pursue a career

Why did you start playing basketball? It caught my attention at a young age (2 yrs old) and it naturally became a part of my life

What are your academic strengths: persuasive writing and history

What are your athletic strengths? Jumping, court awareness and shooting

Your school GPA: 3.3

What are your favorite hobbies: Dancing, listening to music and shopping

Favorite Food: Shrimp and rice

Favorite Movie: Love and Basketball and Stomp Yard

Favorite kind of music: R & B

Favorite TV show: Fresh Prince of Bellaire

Favorite non-sport figure: My high school coach (Felicia Oliver)

Favorite sports figure: Dwayne Wade

Who is your role model, and why? My mom, because she is intelligent and independent

Who would you like to meet, why, and what would you ask them? President Barack Obama, because he is a prime example of how hard work pays off. I would like to ask him, how it feels being the first African American President

Best academic memory: Joining the National Honor Society

Best sports memory:  Winning the Tournament of Champions as well as the Essex County Player of the Year (2006-07)

Colleges recruiting choices: Maryland, Rutgers, UCONN, South Carolina, Miami, Georgia, and Florida

What would you like people to know about you: I am very outgoing and I love to laugh.

 

Meet Laurin Mincy “Lady LaBron”

GameBall Magazine shines the spot light on Laurin Mincy “Lady LaBron”

Laurin, what’s it like to be labeled the Lady LaBron? It’s an honor to even be compared to LaBron James. He is one of the best. It gives me a boost of confidence.

Laurin, you arrived at University High School and put the program on your shoulders, do you any added pressure being the face of the program? No, the added pressure makes me work harder. It pushes me as well as my teammates.

Laurin, your considered amongst the top 2010 juniors in the country, what it like every time you step on the court knowing your opponent is inspired to shut you down? It’s hard at times, because I must live up to the hype every time I step on the floor.  It lets me know that I have to work even harder, so there is no way for them to shut me down.

Laurin, have you and your parents decided who you’ll be playing with this spring and summer during the travel team season?  No, we haven’t.  I am looking to play with and against good competition.

Laurin, you have an opportunity to be selected for Nike’s National and Regional  Skills Academy, are you excited about the possibility?  Yes, I’m very excited, I will have a chance to compete against the top prospects and see where I stand amongst them.

Comments from the parents: Duane Mincy

When did you realize your daughter had special talent?  I think she was about 8 yrs old and she was at her first basketball camp. While at the camp during breaks, you could do other things, like swimming, play games, draw, and etc., Laurin would be the only kid in the gym working on her basketball game and she won every award at camp.

Has the national recognition changed Laurin any?  Not one bit, she is a very humble and respectable teenager.

How have you helped Laurin adjust to the challenges she now faces as an elite player?  Letting her no that there is a great responsibility with being an elite player and remembering these simple words, all that I am, I owe, I live eternally in the red. Meaning that she can never repay the elite players that came before her, she can only honor the game the way they did by also being a role model for young girls who look up to her.

How has your family kept Laurin grounded?  Laurin has a big family who helps to make sure that she does the little things, whether it be teaching her little brother about life things that she has learned thus far.  We all make sure that her faith is strong and balanced.

Comments from University High School Head Coach Felicia Oliver:

Coach Oliver, you’ve been around the game a long time, what intangibles does Laurin bring to her game, that elevates her above other players?  Laurin is very humble, maintains her composure, so artistic in her game, intelligent beyond her sport, makes personal sacrifices at her own expense, and she has he ability to stay in the moment during period of intense pressure. Laurin will tend to let things happen and not force the issue, especially since she uses her innate ability to trust the moment…

Laurin is creating her own legacy right now, she can make her team win, she fills up a stats sheet. Laurin is very versatile and can play multiple positions and she does all of this from the guard position

Laurin has the ability to take over every game, but she will spend time working on building her teammates confidence, understanding at an early age that its about we and not me. Laurin will make self-sacrifices and play with her friends during the off season with her main focus being helping others to improve their game and quality of life in this basketball world.

Laurin glides down the court, artistically as if she were poetry in motion. She has the ability to be super clutch down the stretch.  Laurin also understands that everyone else plays the game against her not wanting to admit that it builds their confidence more and helps elevate their game when they step on the court to compete against thee “Laurin Mincy”