On Friday, June 4, Souderton senior A.J. Picard was honored at a news conference for accepting a full scholarship to play basketball At Division 2 Goldey-Beacom College in Wilmington, Delaware. Goldey-Beacom competes in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.
A.J. Picard – Goldey-Beacom College (Basketball)
Major: Sports Marketing/Business
Final list of colleges: Goldey-Beacom, Holy Family
Reasons for choosing Goldey-Beacom: “When I went there for a visit, I really liked the campus, and I wanted a small school. I liked their academic program because I know as a freshman – my older friends tell me it’s tough, and they have a five-hour tutoring session you have to go to each week.
“The coach also told me I’ll probably be playing as a freshman at the two, and my sophomore, junior and senior years, I’ll probably be point guard.”
When did Goldey-Beacom enter the picture? “About three weeks ago. I had never heard of it before, but at that point, I just wanted to get a scholarship and be able to play Division I or Division II basketball. My mom and I went down, and we were going to visit Goldey-Beacom and Delaware University because they’re right next to each other. We visited Goldey-Beacom, and I got along with the coach. We both really liked it. After that, we decided not to visit Delaware University.”
How does it feel to have your dream of receiving a basketball scholarship become a reality? “My next dream is to succeed in college basketball and hopefully play after that, but it was definitely a stressful time after the season. You’re hearing about everyone signing, and you don’t have much activity. I broke down a couple of times because I was scared I wasn’t going to get anything. Once you’re finally signed, you wake up each morning not having to worry about anything. It’s a sigh of relief, and you’re just pumped to get to the school and play.
“I have to thank my AAU coach Toomay Anderson and Chuck Moore Sr., who trains me, and definitely coach Engard.”
Goldey-Beacom coach Chuck Hammond says: "We are all very excited to welcome A.J. to our program. We know we are getting a special player who will only continue to get better through all his hard work and dedication to the game. While recruiting A.J., so many people had so many positive things to say about him as a player and a person, and to me, that is extremely important. I am looking forward to see AJ build off of his success from his playing career at Souderton and continue it at Goldey-Beacom College."
Former Souderton coach Perry Engard says: “It’s hard enough to be an elite player, but it’s even more difficult to do so when you’re expected to do it, when your team expects team success and you’re the best player on that team, and you’re returning as a first team all-league player. You’re expected to be even better – not just for yourself but also for your team. There are a lot of players who put up big numbers for bad teams because they have to.
“With A.J., you’re talking about a guy that not only led the team in scoring his senior year but for three straight years led the team in assists and upped his game this year to include four rebounds a game. You’re talking about a guy that can never take one possession off on either end of the floor, and he clearly did that. They say stars shine bright in big games, and his best moments were in big games.
“A lot of people see the Roman (Catholic) game (a 55-54 loss in the opening round of the PIAA Tournament) as a down moment. I disagree because in playing against a team that at times had four D-1 or D-2 players in their lineup and our best player was A.J. – when you look at that, I saw A.J. do so many things with the ball and off the ball to get us back into the game and forge us into the lead. He could have called it a career, but he took it upon himself to try and put the team on his back and willed us back into the lead. Our team didn’t win the game, but it wasn’t his player that scored the last basket. Everybody in the place knew that Rakeem Brookins was going to take that shot, and A.J. got a hand in his face, and he shot long. He did his job right down to the buzzer. I think it was one of his many finest moments.
“It makes your job so much easier when your best player – who leads by example – is also your most coachable player. Most players aren’t going to do as you say, they’re going to do as you do. In that case, you want A.J. Picard to be your leader because you want everybody to do as he does.
“(Co-captain) Sam Wonderling was one of his closest friends on the team, and while A.J. was doing it from the floor, Sam was doing it from the bench. It was a real nice one-two combo. Sometimes there just are not words to say what he brings to the team. It’s cliché to say he was a coach on the floor, but he was that and much more.”
Basketball Honors
· 2010 – Third Team All-State AAAA
· 2010 – SOL Continental Conference Player of the Year (Souderton was conference champion.)
· 2010 – First Team All-SOL
· 2010 – Intelligencer Player of the Year
· 2010 – Philly/Cheltenham Challenge MVP
· 2009 – KSA Holiday Tournament MVP
· 2009 – First Team All-SOL
· 2009 – First Team All-Intelligencer
· 2008 – Starting point guard for only state tournament win in school history (66-58 over 30-0 Reading)
2010 Senior Awards
· Bill Vanderbeek Memorial Award (Honors student Bill Vanderbeek, who died in a traffic accident) – Given to someone like Billy with school spirit and citizenship who is involved in school activities and is well liked by his fellow students.
· Dal Smoot Award – This award is given to the male or female student-athlete who exemplifies high academic standards, attributes such as sportsmanship, good mental attitude towards life, compassion for others as well as participation in school activities.
· Pearl C. and Leon Ziegler Memorial Award – Given to a student who has lost their father
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