Looking at the Mcdonald's all American jersey hanging on a chair, Jake smiled happily. In his past life, he wasn't able to play in the Mcdonald's all American due to him tearing his hamstring in the State Championship Final. But now, he could finally play as one of the best high school prospects in the USA.
Aside from that, just last week he had committed to UCLA. Receiving offers from Texas tech, USC the team that he had previously committed to in his past life, Michigan State and the team he eventually chose, UCLA.
The reason he chose UCLA was because it had offered him not only a full scholarship, his very own apartment just outside the school campus, but also gave free tickets for his family every time they would watch the game. To add even more, they also ensured a future scholarship for his younger brother once he reaches college.
So obviously he had to commit to UCLA. Though, in his past life UCLA didn't offer him a scholarship. Which he found quite interesting, but he didn't care, because not only was he set for life, but so was his younger brother.
To add, his family was currently staying at an Airbnb, as the Mcdonald's all American was located in Chicago.
Gearing up for the game, he was really excited to play with his team. During the Mcdonald's all American practice, they spent some time building chemistry. Most specifically with Amari Bailey, his future UCLA teammate.
Amari was a quick, athletic combo guard who was also a good defensive player. His playmaking skills were still raw but his finishing and his ability to not back down from contact made him a really good player.
At first it was hard to talk with Amari as he was part of the Sierra Canyon team that Jake beat, but eventually he opened up and turned out to be a great guy and a great teammate.
Putting on his uniform, two leg knee pads and his favorite shoes, the Curry flow 8. Which was the signature shoe of one of, if not his favorite basketball player of all time, Stephen Curry.
Though his game translated to more of a less athletic Demar Derozan, he had always idolized Steph Curry, growing up in the 2010's, the first nba game he watched was coincidentally Stephen Curry's first nba game. And from there on he fell in love with the game's greatest shooter of all time.
This is obvious as his room was filled with posters of the Golden State Warriors superstar, Stephen Curry. As well as a Funko-pop and a framed signed jersey that he had the man himself sign after a game.
Brushing that off, he walked down the stairs and grabbed a bite to eat. Soon after his brother arrived from school.
"Yo Dame! How was school?" Jake being the older obviously had to start the conversation.
"Mhm, pretty boring. We played basketball on PE though." Dame, who's name was surprisingly not inspired by Damian Lillard, replied pretty enthusiastically.
"Mhm, so, how did it go? You still chucking three pointers?"
"First of all, I didn't play too badly. Secondly I'm a hella good shooter!" Dame scoffed as he sat next to Jake who was doing some stretches in the living room.
"By the way, what time is mom gonna fetch us? It's like 4:20 and the game's starting at 6:30 isn't it?"
"Eh, she called like a few minutes ago, said she was ne-" Then on cue, Jake and Dame's mom honked outside, indicating that they were gonna go.
"Oh come on! I just got here!" Dame said who was just about to change clothes.
"Bad luck for you then, oh and make sure to lock the door and grab the keys, Imma head to the car!" Jake teasingly said as he grabbed his bag and shoes as he jogged to the car.
Getting in, he greeted his mom as Dame lazily walked out of the house.
"Hey mom." Dame said as he slouched onto the back seat.
"How you doing, my baby! How was school!" Jake and Dame's mom, Rose, asked.
"Eh, it could've been better." Dame replied as he closed his eyes and dozed off just a minute later.
"You ready for the game Honey?" Jake's mom asked, obviously she was really happy for her son being a top basketball recruit. But being a Filipino, she obviously did not want her son to slack on his grades just because he was a top recruit.
After nearly half an hour of driving which had a few delays due to traffic, they eventually arrived at the Wintrust Arena located in Chicago Illinois.
"Alright, Imma go in first mom, you better wake Dame up and give him some sweets. I don't want him dozing off while I play." Jake said as he grabbed his shoes and bag.
"By the way, thank you for always supporting me. I know my school's tuition was expensive, but you still paid for it. So in return, I'll make sure that I can repay everything you've given me." He said kissing his mom in the cheek.
"Love you mom."
His mother, who was taken aback, had to wipe down a few tears from her face. But she eventually calmed down after some time.
Back to Jake, he used the player's entrance as he met another teammate of his, Jordan Walsh.
"Ey Jake! How you doing! I for real thought I was gonna be late." Jordan said. A bald, 6'7 high flyer, Jordan was pretty famous for his long wingspan and athletic dunks.
"Same here man, same here." Jake replied back, down not with the same enthusiasm.
After conversing for a minute or two they reached team West's locker room. It seemed that they weren't too late as the other top recruits in the country were still changing.
Looking at the people around him, Jake couldn't help but smile. In his past life, he didn't make a lot of friends with this team. In fact he didn't converse with anyone, not even Jordan or Amari. But now, it was different, he had connections and had already made some team chemistry.
As the team finished changing, they met their coach, Michael Thomas Jr. After talking about the game, a way to show scouts of what was coming. He walked with the team to the court. As a crowd had already gathered, looking around he spotted his mom, Dame and his dad who managed to catch up to the game on time.
Focusing back on the court, he remembered what had happened in his past life. He had suffered a bad sprain on his ankle from attempting to do a between the legs dunk. So the first thing he put in his head was, don't do anything fancy. Just do what the scouts want to see, good defense and his signature mid range game. Maybe a few threes to make them see that he had an outside game.
After warming up with his team, the referee blew the whistle. Indicating the start of the game.
"Alright, showtime!" Jake shouted as he ran to the team huddle.