Jarell White is one of the greatest players in Bellport High School history.
White, who graduated in 2019, holds the school’s boys basketball mark for career points and career rebounds.
Now, White is making a name for himself in Costa Rica’s pro basketball league.
He is playing for the All About Ball Jaguars in Costa Rica’s Liga Superior de Baloncesto.
The 6-foot-5 guard/forward poured in 27 points in his first game on March 1 and scored 34 points in his second game on March 5.
“He’s the strongest player I’ve ever seen live,” said Jaguars owner Rich Brown, who’s also Bellport’s assistant basketball coach and White’s cousin. “Great worker, great hands and feel for the game. He brings that dog, that energy and toughness and will to win.”
Brown knows what it takes to succeed overseas. He played in pro leagues in Costa Rica, Spain, and Australia.
White made a name for himself in his four years on the Bellport varsity, scoring more than 2,100 points and reeling in almost 1,200 rebounds. He collected a trophy case worth of awards, including Newsday’s Suffolk County Player of the Year for 2018-2019, his senior season.
After Bellport High, White spent a post-graduate year at Hyde School in Bath, Me., where in 2020 he led the team to a New England Preparatory School Athletic Council championship and was selected NEPSAC Class C player of the year.
White then went into Division II SUNY Sullivan (formerly Sullivan County Community College), where he averaged 14.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in 25 games his freshman season and helped lead the school to a strong finish in the NJCAA playoffs.
White was having a great sophomore season, averaging 29.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in three games, when he suffered a foot injury that curtailed his season.
He’s since rehabbed and is back to full strength.
These days, White is living a basketball adventure in Costa Rica.
It’s White’s first time out of the U.S. He’s sharing an apartment with the team’s two other U.S. players.
Since arriving in Costa Rica about a month ago, White hasn’t had time to do much more than eat, sleep, work out, practice, and play games. He’s hoping to get to see the beach one of these days, but basketball comes first.
“I’m chasing the dream,” said White, who credits his basketball success to his mom, Shulanda Trent, the rest of his family, and God.
“My mom’s like my best friend,” he said. “Her support keeps me going.”
White said he was nervous playing his first pro game, but the nerves went away once the shots started to fall.
“I just trust the work I put in, day in, day out,” he said.
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