The Bethpage Golden Eagles basketball team suffered a devastating first round playoff loss this season. But not to give you all the wrong idea, this is a team that has a lot of talent. At the forefront of the Eagles is junior—soon to be senior—point guard Jayden Diaz. This past season for the Eagles Diaz averaged 18.7 points per game, the seventh highest in all of Nassau County. Jayden Diaz has achieved all-conference honors the past 2 seasons; he was also recognized on Newsday’s top 100 Long Island basketball players list. As a sports journalist here at The Eagle’s Cry, I sat down with Diaz and asked him a few questions about himself and his Eagles basketball team. 

At what age did basketball become the sport you would focus on?

“11 years old.”

Who got you into playing the sports of basketball?

“Michael Jordan (the G.O.A.T.)”

Has there been any other sports you enjoyed playing or has it always just been basketball?

“I also enjoyed playing futbol back in the day and flag football I always had a passion for and I still do.”

What would you say your biggest strengths are as a player?

“My biggest strengths as a player are creating opportunities for my teammates to score and finishing around the rim with both hands.”

Are you interested in playing at the next level?

“I’m not entirely sure if I want to play at the next level. It’s something I think about every day really depends if I get an offer to a school I like or if I even get an offer.”

How do you deal with the pressure of being the team’s go-to player on the court?

“It definitely can be stressful having to be the go-to player on the team but usually when I’m playing the stress and pressure goes away.”

How do you stay motivated if you or the team hit a string of bad performances?

“Main motivation when we hit a rough stretch of poor performances is really just not wanting the season to end, playing as hard as possible every game to earn a chance in the playoffs and play one more game.”

Were you happy with or disappointed in the team’s performance this season?

“I would say I was a little disappointed with our teams performance this year because we could have easily had a way better record and have a top 10 seeding or even win the conference. We just lost a ton of close games that were very winnable.”

How far do you see the team going next year in your senior year?

“Next year is definitely going to tough since we are losing 4 starters and entering what should be a tougher division. If upcoming players can step up I think we can make a solid playoff run but it will definitely be difficult.”

Is there a reasoning behind your wearing of the number 12?

“I wear 12 because I used to always wear 19 cause that’s the day my birthday is but in CYO basketball that’s not an option so I picked 12 since December is the 12th month of the year and it stuck ever since.”

What is your go to pre-game song?

“Go to pregame song is probably The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars or Francesco Bernoulli’s 2.5L V8 785hp race-car engine from Cars 2.”

Who would you say you model your game after?

“I’d say I model my game after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.”

Is there anybody who inspires you to play the game?

“I’d say watching Kyrie Irving dismantle defenses inspires me to play basketball.”