MACKINAW, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — Summer is over for Dalia DeJesus.
School starts Wednesday at Dee-Mack, which means her sophomore year begins.
“I’m a little nervous, I like summer a lot,” said DeJesus. “But I think I’m ready to start my sophomore year and sophomore season and hope for a good one.”
Her high school career got off to a tremendous start. The 5-foot-11 forward was a first-year secret weapon as a freshman.
A starter from the beginning of the year, she gave the Chiefs an inside presence to compliment then-senior guard Addi Swadinsky, the school’s all-time scoring leader.
DeJesus says she may have even surprised herself.
“Just to be a starter was amazing for me,” she said. “I took that as encouragement to play hard and motivate myself.”
She wasn’t a surprise to her team.
“I knew how good this freshman was,” said Mackenzie Knowles, who’s heading into her junior year. “I couldn’t wait to play with her. I was so excited to see what she’d do for us and how good she was going to be.”
DeJesus says her work ethic was born when she played on boys teams in youth basketball. Now she hopes that work ethic helps her avoid any sort of sophomore jinx.
She knows she’ll be on a lot of opponent’s scouting reports. DeJesus is no longer a secret.
“I definitely have to work a lot harder. I have to be stronger. I have to be more physical,” DeJesus said. “I have to build off everything I did this year and do more.”
