Senior Marc Sanchez-Giron has been nominated for East’s Athlete of the Week by coach Ryan Velasquez for his strong feature of discipline and display E.A.S.T. ‘s core values of excellence, academics, spirit, and tradition.

Sanchez-Giron began playing basketball in the eighth grade and has flourished as a player during his time at East. He credits basketball for giving him life lessons and his parents for keeping him going. 

“Basketball has taught me how to work hard and the tough mentality that you need to work hard since nothing will ever just be given to you,” Sanchez-Giron said. “And what keeps me going is honestly my mom and my dad and all that they do for me every day; picking me up when I’m feeling down and talking and uplifting me.”

Coaches and teammates share a common opinion on Marc, being that he brings a strong character to the team. Senior teammate Mason Lockett discusses what Sanchez-Giron brings to the team. 

“Marc does the job that no one else wants to do. He is diving on the floor and getting rebounds, “ Lockett said. “He is also the guy that picks everyone up, like in a game I think everything is super serious the whole time, but Marc reminds me to have fun too.”

Head Varsity coach Ryan Velasquez has coached Marc for the past two seasons and has similar views as Lockett regarding Marc’s character on the court.

“His love and passion for the game is always on display when he steps out on the court. You can always count on Marc to bring energy to the court along with a strong leadership voice.” Velasquez said. 

Another teammate, Senior R’mani Sims, reflects on an instance where Sanchez-Giron’s character came through. 

“I remember when I was having an off game, and during halftime, he came up to me and just tried to bring me up. He is always bringing up people’s spirits,” Sims said. 

For his senior season, Marc has earned the starting center position. Assistant coach and Marc’s PE Excel teacher, Patrick Molinari, talks through how Sanchez-Giron has grown into the spot.

“Marc has matured quite a bit over the course of a couple of years. You are able to see the development of him wanting to evolve on the court.” Molinari said. “When you have the kind of talent he has around him, it is really important that you find and establish your role, then embrace it. Marc understands his role, he’s embraced it, and he has excelled at doing it.”

Sanchez-Giron’s college plans are still undecided as to whether he will be playing basketball or not, but he plans to major in business administration or finance. Coach Velasquez leaves a lasting quote on how Sanchez-Giron will thrive past high school, no matter the plans. 

“Marc is playing some of his best basketball down the stretch here in his senior year and giving his all. We are all so proud of the contributions he has given to the program over four years in the basketball program. Marc is bound to have a bright and successful future after his time here at Oswego East.”

Written by senior Eve Cerny. Edited by staff writers for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.