Basketball
Favorite athlete: Jalen Green
Favorite team: Sixers
Favorite memory competing in sports: AAU basketball when I was young
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Getting dunked on by my brother at our school camp
Music on my playlist: Playboi Carti, Kanye West , A$AP Rocky
Future plans: Graduate College
Words to live by: “I’d rather die before I come in last- Playboi Carti”
One goal before turning 30: Have a job as a Physcial Therapist
One thing people don’t know about me: I am a very picky eater
By Ed Morrone
Evan Esposito isn’t a quitter, but he admits enough doubt crept in that he seriously thought about it. After all, why continue playing the game you love when you start feeling that it no longer loves you back?
Esposito, a 6-foot-4 senior guard/forward for the Neshaminy basketball team, felt as if he was wasting away on the freshman squad while the varsity program limped to a 3-18 rebuilding season after losing almost all of its key seniors to graduation the year before when Chris Arcidiacono led the Redskins to the state quarterfinals. Esposito knows now he was too young to know any better, but at the time, he was no longer having fun and seriously considered bailing.
That’s when having an older brother who's already walked a mile or two in your shoes comes especially in handy.
The Espositos are a basketball family through and through, with Evan’s dad, older sister and younger brother all playing or have played the game. But it was Eric Esposito, a Conwell-Egan graduate and current junior forward for Holy Family University, who really pushed Evan into sticking with basketball. Evan felt stuck in the mud, but Eric assured him the highs would come if he kept the faith and continued to put in the work.
“There were times I wanted to quit, especially when I was a freshman and sophomore because I couldn’t see myself being as good as he (Eric) was,” Evan said. “I just said I don’t think this is for me, and he told me to keep going. I would go to his games when he was in high school, and he would teach me a lot. When I first got to high school, I was a lot smaller and not the greatest, but he knew I would get bigger, just like he did. He kept telling me he saw my potential, and to just keep pushing and getting better.
“We’ve been playing with and against each other forever, so he’s had a big role.”
But who would win more of the one-on-one battles that the brothers waged in the driveway at home?
“Definitely him,” Evan admitted. “But as we’ve gotten older, the one-on-one’s have gotten much closer.”
At Conwell-Egan, Eric made varsity as a freshman, and Evan assumed with so many spots opening at Neshaminy that he would grab hold of one. When it didn’t happen, he was hurt and felt like his assignment to the freshman team was a demotion.
“I didn’t want to be on the freshman team,” Evan said. “Nobody does. My brother made varsity as a freshman and his team won a state championship. I was playing, but I wasn’t having much fun.”
Things slowly got better, even if Esposito didn’t make varsity as a sophomore either, spending his season with the jayvee team. At that point, Esposito knew he was at least one level closer to where he wanted to be; plus, he was playing and his coaches and teammates looked to him more as a leader. So, why not make the best of it until your name is called for varsity?
It wasn’t only Esposito’s outlook on his situation that changed, either: his body followed suit, and the expected growth spurt that had previously seen Eric sprout to 6-foot-7 reached the younger brother, and Evan currently sits at 6-4 despite only just turning 17 in October. Thus, he’s likely not finished getting vertical. The height increase has led to an evolution in Evan’s game, going from more of a one-dimensional shooter to someone who can play both sides of the ball effectively by using his length and athleticism, similarly to his older brother with the main difference being Evan is right-handed. (Evan said he and Eric have extremely similar playing styles: “Taller guards who are athletic, can dribble, finish and shoot and also guard bigs on defense,” he said. “Someone who can do everything.”)
Having hit his growth spurt while seeing Neshaminy weave back toward respectability (the Redskins’ varsity team went 10-12 Esposito’s sophomore year), things were coalescing just as Esposito had hoped. By the time he reached junior year, there was no more being denied: Esposito was a varsity basketball player, and he would soon play a part in a season that saw Neshaminy return to the postseason for the first time since Arcidiacono graduated three years earlier.
Esposito was a role player, but an important one. Neshaminy head coach Mark Tingle estimated that while only playing about 10 minutes a night at the most, Esposito was the seventh man in the team’s rotation and was the only non-senior who contributed anything substantial to that postseason run.
“We knew he was going to be somebody important for us,” Tingle said. “Someone who could come off the bench to hit big shots, play defense, get blocks and use his length on the guys he was guarding. He probably only played about 10 minutes per game, but with the team we had that won the league, it was a good season for him to get his feet wet on varsity.”
Neshaminy was one-and-done in the district playoffs, losing 66-52 at West Chester East, but Esposito had by his estimation one of his best games of the season, scoring five points and blocking a shot off the backboard in the game’s closing minutes.
“I just tried to not do too much,” Esposito said. “I was still growing and getting used to my body, so I just came in and did what they needed me to do. It was a good experience getting to the playoffs, even though we lost. I had one of my best games, and it kind of showed me a nice preview of what to expect next season. It felt good to play well in the most important game of the season.”
Fast forward a year later, and Esposito is now a senior starter and captain for Neshaminy. The team is 7-4 overall and 6-2 in league play, good for second place behind frontrunning Bensalem; not only that, but Esposito is Neshaminy’s second-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game while leading the team in rebounding (5.9).
Esposito has made it a point to befriend the underclassmen on the team, the same way the seniors showed him love when he was a junior last season. He said that when his older teammates took him under their wing, it made him feel less pressure, which led to Esposito playing looser when he did get on the court.
“In basketball, team chemistry is just as important, if not more so, than talent,” Esposito said. “We probably don’t have more talent than last year’s team, but the chemistry is better. Our team is confident we can get back to the playoffs and go further this time. A big problem for me used to be confidence, but with this team we know what everyone can do, and we let them do it. We aren’t scared to try, and I’m not scared anymore myself. I go out there and pay with a lot more confidence now.”
Esposito’s head coach sees it, too.
“Evan has been rebounding the ball really well,” Tingle said. “His athleticism leads to extra possessions on offense, and he’s been real patient with his shot selection. Last week against Truman, he set the tone by getting a steal in the open court that led to his first-ever dunk in a game. We fed off his excitement from that. Evan is someone who really energizes the team. I’ve seen the progression he’s made once he really committed himself in the offseason. He never gets too high or low, and he’s liked by everyone on our team.”
Esposito is hoping to lead Neshaminy back to a league title and a berth in districts. Only this time, he wants to make sure he helps the Redskins win a postseason game before he graduates.
As far as playing basketball at the next level, Esposito is still torn. He’s talked to some Division III coaches, and watching his brother succeed at Holy Family makes it even more tempting. Having just turned 17 a few months ago, Esposito is an especially young senior, and he said he may sit out a year to allow his body to mature and catch up to everyone else. So, he may play right away, he may wait a year or he may just stop playing basketball entirely.
“I think a lot of that will depend on how the rest of this season goes,” he said.
Esposito surely is thinking about college though, confiding that he is interested in pursuing a career in physical therapy. Like most former athletes, working as a physical therapist allows you to stay connected to the world of sports while simultaneously keeping your own body in shape while helping others fix theirs. Esposito said a couple months ago, a balky back led him to his own rehabilitation, and he really hit it off with his physical therapist. Esposito was struck at how much the man seemed to enjoy his job.
“That’s really big for me, waking up and not dreading going to my job every day,” he said. “I want to be somewhat excited about what I do while still getting paid for it. I see people all the time who seem to not like their jobs, and I just want to make sure I do something that allows me to enjoy my life.”
Away from basketball, Esposito is, like most 17-year-old boys, an enormous fan of the Marvel superhero movies. He listed Spider-Man as his favorite, confiding that he has three posters of the hero in his room. Instead of the typical Peter Parker versions, Esposito is drawn to the character of Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which he said is his favorite movie of all-time. He also can relate to Spider-Man’s struggles and battles with self-confidence and doubt.
“That one has a better origin story,” he said. “Plus, nobody believed in him, and he was still able to do what he wanted to do while remaining himself.”
As for Esposito’s basketball journey, it may come to an end in a little more than a month. Or maybe he’ll take a gap year before trying to play again; heck, maybe he’ll be playing on a roster next fall.
Whatever happens, Esposito is sure glad he didn’t quit, because he would have missed way too much had he stopped playing.
“Basketball really showed me that it’s not always going to go your way, so you just have to keep moving forward,” he said. “Try your hardest while having fun and a positive mindset, because that’s the most important thing.
“And I’m really thankful for my brother, who told me to keep going. Every win we get now, it’s just a really nice feeling knowing that I’m one of the key players leading the team.”
