This article was originally published in the Fall 2018 edition of Cardinal & Cream’s print magazine.
November 16, 2017, Nick Velasquez walks out onto the court of the Fred-Delay Gymnasium. It’s the first home game of the season. He’s standing a little taller than his 6’2” frame can really show. The night before, he exploded for 23 points while shooting 7-17 (41%) from three-point range. He wore a black headband in that game, but tonight he chose to go with the white one.
You see, the color of the headband is really only important because I’m incredibly superstitious. Most sports guys are. So much so that if we take our hats off and our team goes on a run, we won’t wear hats for the rest of the season unless our team starts to lose again. Nick, however, is different.
“Do you think your performance had anything to do with the headband you were wearing?” I asked.
“No, I do not think it was because I had a black headband on,” he answered with a laugh.
He was right. That night he went off for 23 points again, this time shooting an incredible 7-7 (100%) from deep and 8-9 (88%) from the field. It was awe-inspiring. He started hot in the first half, going 5-5 from three. The opposing team started keying in on him in the second half, but Nick just shrugged off the extra tight defense and drained two more shots from deep. Everyone in the gym that night knew he was special. Nick was going to go pro.
He graduated in May of 2018. In the first week of September of the same year, he signed a contract to play pro ball for the Rebels BKB in El Salvador. Even though he only really knows one person in the entire country and even though he’s not a fluent speaker of the language, Nick is determined to light the league on fire and earn more looks from other clubs. This is a dream he’s had since Momma Suave put a ball in his hands back in kindergarten. He’s been working for this shot for 20 years and it’s finally here.
“She used to work me out at the park at six in the morning,” Nick said. “I think she’s happy for me.”
Nick Velazquez is one of the most charismatic guys I’ve ever met in my life. I know that sounds hyperbolic. It isn’t. In fact, he co-hosted a podcast with me during his senior year and he was clearly the reason people tuned in. His low, soothing voice and laid-back tone make for great radio. His nickname is “Nico Suave” (pronounced: knee-co swah-vay). Do you know how debonaire you have to be to get a name like that? The guy practically sweats charm and everyone loves him for it. He’s not exactly your typical campus “big shot” but if you meet anyone who knows him, you’d probably only hear good things.
Nico is from Mililani, Hawaii. You can see the island influence in the way he walks like he has nowhere to be anytime soon. You can hear it in his voice, like he’s never been stressed a day in his life. He typically dresses in gym shorts and a tank top but with the way he carries himself, you’d think he belongs on the cover of a GQ magazine. He can even wear those awful John Lennon sunglasses that flip up to reveal clear non-prescription lenses and make them look like your favorite pair of Ray-Bans.
He’s cool in the way that most of us want to be but don’t even come close to achieving. He knows it too but walks the fine line between arrogance and confidence, being his own biggest believer when it comes to the game of basketball (although Michael Chapman and I may be close behind him). He knows what he can do and he’ll prove it on the court. That’s all that really matters.
“The reality is you’re a 6’2” guard and there’s how many of those in the world? They’re a dime a dozen,” Nick said. “It’s about what you do to make yourself stand out.”
“Of the 30 [players from Union] that have signed professionally, most of them have been post players because that’s what everybody wants,” said David Niven, the head coach for men’s basketball at Union. “Nick found a way, as a guard, to get that done.”
Nico is only one story from Union. By going pro, he’s joining his former teammate Charlie “Chuck” Wilson and women’s basketball standout Chelsey Shumpert. Wilson graduated alongside Nick and signed with Rivadavia near Mendoza, Argentina, in late July. Wilson was a centerpiece for the Bulldogs during his time here, averaging 13 points and eight rebounds his senior year. Niven remarked about Wilson’s athleticism saying that he could have a 15 year career playing overseas.
Shumpert was an explosive force in her lone season at Union. She set the school record for points scored in a season and racked up a long list of well-deserved accolades, averaging 23.8 points per game and 3.6 assists while shooting 45% from the field and 37% from downtown. After a season like that, it makes sense that she was the first to be signed. Shumpert worked out a contract with the Nottingham Wildcats in England this summer.
Union has a history of players going pro, and, while these three are the most recent, they certainly won’t be the last. Tyree Boykin had a breakout season in his freshman year and will likely be the next player to go pro after his time at Union. Nick had some advice for players like Boykin who are looking to go pro from a Division II school.
“Bet on yourself. You know your capabilities and you know what you’re made of. Don’t let that D-II label stop you from getting to your dream. You just might have to work a little harder than other people.”
Photo Courtesy of Cody Cunningham