By Henry Grant
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD— A man, an athlete, a student, a son. All of these words describe Joseph Santone.
Joseph Santone takes a free throw at one of his practices leading up to an important upcoming game. By Henry Grant, CCC Journalism Program
Like most athletes, Santone loves the game he plays, so much so he could give the exact time period he fell in love with the game.
“I remember it clear as day, it was in kindergarten, and my dad had bought me to my first ‘76ers game, the atmosphere was absolutely amazing,” he says.
Santone was born April 9, 1990 in West Berlin, N.J. He graduated from St. Joseph’s High School in 2009.
Santone is employed at Dicks Sporting Goods and attends Camden County College, where he is working on his communications degree. Santone says basketball helped him develop the work ethic to keep up with all of those activities in his life. Not only that, but all the physical training required with being a ball player has helped him. He says during the off season he practices at least three hours a day and then does weight training. Aside from that, it also helped him to keep his grades up because if you fail a class, you can’t play.
Santone says he considers his cousin Aaron a mentor.
“Aaron was extremely good and I’d always strive to be better than him. It was that ongoing competition with him that made me the player I am today,” Santone says.
He plays point guard and shooting guard for the CCC basketball team. Santone, however, is much more than a ball player. He does work in the community and, above all, he’s a family man.
As to how important family is to him, he says it’s “the most important thing in my life. I’d give up anything, including basketball, for the people I care about in my life.”