Sport: Basketball
Favorite athlete: Jrue Holiday
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Upsetting number 4 seeded Coatsville my sophomore year at Coatsville in the district playoffs
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My first game on varsity, the string on my shorts broke in warmups and the extra pair was too big so I had to play the whole game with my shorts rolled all the way up. I had people calling me John Stockton.
Music on your iPod: Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Wale, Dry Reef
Future plans: To go to college and earn my degree
Words to live by: Success comes with hard work
One goal before turning 30: To have a job that pays well
One thing people don’t know about me: I'm a huge baseball fan and enjoy playing baseball
No one would have blamed John Decamara had he felt intimidated or unprepared when he first stepped onto the court for Upper Dublin as a sophomore. After all, it’s not easy to jump onto a team that stars all-league seniors Jamil Brown and James Newman.
But Decamara didn’t approach the situation with trepidation. Only confidence. And all he did was add a new wrinkle to the offense that helped make Brown and Newman even more effective.
“When John came up as a sophomore, we had Jamil Brown and James Newman,” said Upper Dublin boys basketball coach Josh Adelman. “The one thing we really needed was an outside shooter, and once Jamil and James saw him play, they knew if we penetrated, if opponents collapsed on us, they could kick it out to John and he'd drill it. They developed a lot of confidence in him and once that happens as a sophomore, John took it and ran with it.”
Supremely confident in both his abilities as a player and in his teammates, Decamara drained 44 three-pointers that season (despite missing the first three games while he played junior varsity) as the Cardinals finished in a third-place tie in the American Conference at 9-5 (17-9 overall).
Last year, despite the Cardinals struggling to a 3-9 league record (11-2 overall), Decamara drained 53 from behind the three-point arc and was named Second Team All-League.
As was to be expected, Decamara entered his senior season with a bull’s-eye on his chest. The focal point for many an opposing defense, all the senior shooting guard has done so far is shoot about 44 percent from three-point land, burying 63 treys (coming into this week’s games). But he provides the Cardinals with so much more than just outside shooting.
“Not only is he good offensively, but he really works hard on his defensive game,” Adelman said. “Whatever's needed, he does. John's also one of our best rebounders, he's always top five in steals, and he's done a lot of work on his ballhandling. He's worked hard on his game."
One of the biggest improvements in his game, Decamara said, has been his ability to get himself open.
"I'm having to work harder to get open," Decamara said. "Working without the ball is something I've been doing more this year than in past years and I think our team is really helping me do that. If they can work it around and get the ball in my hands, I'm working to get myself in a position where I'm able to shoot."
The senior captain brings his teammates into just about any conversation about his own talents. After all, this is a team sport, and there are four other players out there with him. And their efforts are just as crucial to his success as his quick release is.
Mention his shooting, and he'll bring up how the rest of the Cardinals are getting the ball to him within the flow of the game. Question how he's able to get open with other teams guarding him so closely, he'll praise the rest of the team for being able to work the ball around the perimeter and set picks. Ask him if he feels extra pressure to lead the team in scoring …
"We've got a lot of seniors on the team, guys who have been around for a while, and we've got some young guys with a lot of talent," Decamara said. "There are other guys on the team who can step up. So if (opposing defenses) are keying on me, we have other guys who can step up and make the big shot."
Adelman, however, points to Decamara's defense as having jumped to a new level this season.
"John was always a good defensive player, but he really worked hard with his AAU team this summer and they played some really good competition," Adelman said. "When he came back and joined us, there was this other gear defensively that he had. He's getting his hands on tips and deflections. He'll surprise you, block a few shots. He rebounds really well. He's known for his offensive prowess but he really does a great job defensively. He's one of those kids I don't like to take off the court very often. He doesn't get into foul trouble very often. He's one of those guys who'll play 32 minutes."
Though Decamara has worked on and improved various aspects of his game over the years, one thing that has never changed has been his unwavering confidence in both himself and his teammates.
"From the moment he stepped on the court as a sophomore, he really exudes confidence and his teammates really believe in him," Adelman said. "When the ball finds him, it usually finds the bottom of the net."
That comes from years of practice and years of experience. Decamara began playing CYO basketball in third grade and has never stopped. He also played baseball through much of his youth, but gave it up last year in order to focus on basketball.
Decamara, who is homeschooled, had planned on simply playing CYO ball during his high school years, but friends from his CYO teams who attended Upper Dublin convinced him to try out for the team in 10th grade.
"I played CYO my freshman year and that's pretty much what I planned on doing all through high school," Decamara said. "My sophomore year, I had a couple friends who went to Upper Dublin, they got me to come over and try out for the team.
"I had been playing a lot of sports with a lot of the guys. My sophomore year, the guys I was friends with were mostly on jayvee, so it was easy to come in right away being with them. It really just came naturally. I blended in, I was accepted as part of the team right away."
This season, Decamara found himself on the other side of the equation when the team brought sophomore Kevin Woods up from the junior varsity squad.
"As a sophomore looking up to guys like Jamil, the way he led on the court is the way you have to do it now," Decamara said. "The younger guys are now looking up to you. You can't get mad at them, you've got to pick them up, 'You'll get them next time.' When I was younger, that's how they did it for me."
"When we brought Kevin up from jayvee, you could see John getting in his ear," Adelman said. "I said, 'John, you remember when you were in his shoes?' He laughed and said he did. He knows what Kevin's going through.
"The guys love him. He's polite, respectful. He's a kid you can really cheer for."
The Cardinals only have a handful of games remaining until the District One Playoffs begin. For Decamara, that means it's time for the team to finish the regular season strong and try to make a run in districts in hopes of getting to the state tournament for the first time in his career. But however it ends for Decamara, who hasn't made any decisions on college yet though he doesn't expect to play collegiate basketball, he just wants to make sure that he and his fellow Flying Cardinals leave it all out on the court.
"I'm trying to make it last," he said. "I'm just going to cherish every game I have and work hard and make sure the team works hard. We'll do what we can and hope we can make a run in the playoffs and hope that everything works out for us."
